Dark Souls: The Knights of Balder
by Bman2095
Summary: Based off the story of the kingdom Balder from Dark Souls. This story follows the knight Rendal as he grows from a boy into becoming king.


Dark Souls:

The Knights of Balder

In the Age of Ancients, The world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of grey crags, archtrees, and everlasting dragons But then there was Fire. And with Fire came Disparity.

Heat and cold,

life and death,

and of course... Light and Dark. Then, from the Dark, They came, and found the Souls of Lords within the flame. Nito, the First of the Dead.

The Witch of Izalith, and her daughters of Chaos.

Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, and his faithful knights.

And the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten. With the Strength of Lords, they challenged the 's mighty bolts peeled apart their stone scales. The witches weaved great firestorms. Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease. And Seath the Scaleless betrayed his own, and the dragons were no more. Thus began the Age of Fire. . .But soon, the flames will fade, and only Dark will remain. Even now, there are only embers, and man sees not light, but only endless nights. And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign.

The armor sat in the wardrobe, doors open, glistening from the sunlight shining through the window of the castle. The visor was raised open, as it commonly was, and the beautifully evil maroon cape covered the back of the breast plate. The leggings were more of boots providing protection to the calves, but little to the thighs. The gauntlets may have seemed like common iron gloves, but the metal gear from balder was rock hard, and provided excellent protection for the proud knights.

The king of Balder, Theron, sat on his bed, admiring his armor and sharpening his side sword, the common weapon for the knights of Balder. His shield lay on the bottom of his wardrobe under his set of armor. The shield wasn't as important to him as his armor, it has been his seventeenth shield since joining the knights and becoming king. He had fought many battles and lost many shields, but his sword had saved his life and won many battles. It was his prized possession.

Theron had been king for the better part of twenty-three years. He wasn't a lazy king, and was usually seen at the front of the battlefield fighting along side his knights. He was a glorified king and Balder had never been stronger. The economy was strong, the army was large, and the people were happy. Truly the kingdom that could last for centuries yet to come.

Theron's son, Erik, walked into his father's room. Erik had joined the knights when he became of age and had worked his way up in the ranks fairly quickly (but not as quickly as his father.) He had his armor on and his side sword holstered. He was carrying his helmet at his side. Erik was a strong man who fought fiercely and was skilled greatly with a Balder side sword.

Erik has his father's dark brown hair but his mother's green eyes. He was strongly built and carried his sword proudly, as his father did. Theron's wife had died of illness five years ago. Although the king and Erik acted strongly, it tore them apart inside. They had to act tough though, for Balder.

"Father." Erik said, "It's happening again."

Theron gave his son a stern look. The only thing that had hindered Balder was the monstrous Drakes.

"Are the men ready?" Theron asked.

"Yes sir" He responded. Erik referred to his father as 'sir' during business. "They're equipped and awaiting orders."

Theron stood, rather swiftly for his age, and grabbed his armor. In a few minutes Theron, his son, and the other general, Nakim, stood in front of the powerful army of Balder. Ready to lead his men into battle, Theron approached his army and spoke. Although he didn't yell the entire army could hear his voice as he spoke his speech that always raised his men's moral.

Nakim was strong too and was appointed as a general two years ago when he killed a drake by tearing its eye out and forcing his way through its eye socket and tearing out its brain. Most of the knights kept their armor clean and shiny. But, Nakim never washed his armor and it was stained with blood from men and drakes that he had killed. He had a big scruffy beard, long hair and he never wore his helmet, like the other generals.

"Knights of Balder." he said. "We have fought many battles before this and we always been victorious, even in times where victory seemed to far gone. We have slain men and beast alike and drenched the ground their dreadful blood. It time that we fight again, and it is time that win again. And, if you die, know that you die for the greatest kingdom that has ever stood on the land. Know that you die for your people you swore to protect. If you obey these laws and die for your kingdom, know that you will have a memoriam in your honor.

"And." he added. "know that if you disobey, and you run. You will be killed by us and you will be remembered as a traitor or a coward. So go now and fight. And know that if you die, you die for Balder." Theron yelled the last word in a great battle cry that was followed by all of the knights of Balder cheering. Then the gates opened up as the Knights rushed out and the drakes flew in.

The first to fall were four knights from Balder. They were attacking one of the blue drakes as another snuck to the side of them and breathed their dreadful lightning breath at the men, killing them all. The drake was then cut down by a large group of knights, who trapped it against the castle wall and drove their swords into its body and head. The drake the four knights were attacking before was shot by one of the crossbow wielding knights who were standing on the kingdom's walls. The monster's left eye exploded and the bolt pierced its brain, killing it instantly.

The other's fought harder as the losses grew, and bodies of drakes and knights fell on the ground. Nakim currently had the highest kill count, killing four drakes. Erik and Theron has each killed two and Erik was working on his third, with the help of two other knights.

"Die beast." Erik yelled.

The drake grabbed one of the knights and was about to tear him apart, its biggest mistake was taking its eyes off of Erik. The general jumped on the monster's back and dug his sword into the drake's head. It twitched slightly, dropped the knight, then died. Some of the crossbow wielding knights were killed by a drake who flew up onto the wall, but it was quickly sent back over, dead, by the other knights.

Theron was fighting with five other knights and all together they had killed nine drakes. One of the blue dragons flew straight for the king, knocking four of the other knights down. The one knight it didn't drove his sword into the drake's leg. Startled the beast drove it's claw back, as hard as it could, decapitating the knight.

Theron took this opportunity to stab the drake's eye. He blinded it, but missed his target, the brain. The drake, angered now, slashed out at Theron, knocking his shield and sword from his hands. It snapped at him causing him to fall down. The beast formed what looked like a smile, confident of its victory. As it went to finish off the king a crossbow bolt flew through the air and stabbed the drakes other eye. While it didn't kill the beast, it completely blinded it and the king took that time to grab his side sword and drive it into the beast's head and through its brain.

The king breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at his savior. To his surprise it wasn't a knight, it wasn't even a man or a woman, it was a boy, maybe nine years of age. The king stared stupidly at the boy for a few seconds but was startled by a yell. It had come from his two generals, who were yelling victorious at the retreating drakes, waving their swords and shields in the air. When the king looked back at the kingdom's wall the boy was gone.

Theron, Erik, and Nakim were welcomed with cheers from the people of balder, along with the knights. Their losses hadn't been great and it was one of their greater victories. Erik and Nakim welcomed the cheers greatly, drinking ale and flirting with women. However Theron was looking for the boy who had shot the drake. He didn't recognize the boy, combined with his age, title, and the large population of Balder, he didn't know that many towns folk. But, he was eager to meet his young savior.

He spotted him about an hour after the battle was over. The boy was sitting on a bench talking to a few of the other children. Instead of interrupting them, the king decided to eavesdrop on their conversation. The boy had been telling the story already so the king didn't hear all of it.

"Then the drake bit one of the knight's head off and knocked King Theron down." The boy said with excitement.

"No Drake could knock King Theron down." one of the boys disagreed.

Theron smiled proudly at the complement.

"Well," Theron's savoir continued, "It _did _catch him off guard. Anyway, that's when I grabbed the crossbow and shot at the drake, I hit him right in the eye. Then King Theron grabbed his sword and drove into the beast's head." After he finished the story the boy smiled proudly.

"Yeah right." The children said unconvinced.

"It's true." The boy argued.

"You're telling us you 'saved the king?'"

"Well, I didn't _save _him, but, I helped him kill a Drake."

That's when Theron stepped into the conversation. "No need to be humble young one." The king said. The children stared in awe at their king. To them he was like a god. "I assure you, this young man _did _save my life."

The boy looked angrily at his friends. "Told you." he said.

The king knelt down, so he was face to face with the young child. "I truly appreciate your bravery for our kingdom. What is your name young one?"

The young boy smiled and answered, "Rendal, son of the blacksmith."

Young Rendal was a somewhat hyper child. He talked a lot and sometimes ran ahead of Theron. He would eventually come back by the king's side while they walked to Rendal's home. The young boy had talked about how great his father was at forging weapons and armor. He didn't make the Knight's armor and side swords, there was a special forge and the king's own smith for the knight's gear, but he would craft gear and sell them to the caravan. An honest man's work.

Rendal wasn't interested in following in his father's footsteps however. He didn't like making weapons, but he loved to use them. Rendal wanted to become a knight when he grew up.

"You would probably be interested in using a crossbow?" the king joked.

"Well," Rendal said. "I wouldn't mind, but I would prefer to be a ground soldier, and maybe one day a general. I could use a crossbow if you needed one though."

"Oh believe me I know you can use a crossbow." The king laughed.

They arrived at the blacksmith's shop quickly. The forge shone dimly and the anvil sat vacant.

"My father didn't have to craft today, the caravan comes tomorrow and he's already made enough this time. We should get a fair amount of coin tomorrow."

"Won't they get delayed by the drakes?" The king asked

Rendal smiled slyly, "They're from Berenike."

"Oh." Theron said. "They will be fine then."

Berenike is a neighboring kingdom. It isn't as large as Balder but they're the fiercest bunch of warriors in all of the land. The warriors are giant brutes, who would probably last against one of Gwyn's very own knights. One of Berenike's knights could take down Theron, Erik and Nakim, probably ten more of Balder's knights too. Luckily the two kingdoms are aligned and show no sign of betrayal.

"Father!" Rendal called. "I'm home!"

Rendal's father came to the door. He wasn't at all what Theron had expected. He thought most smiths were grizzly bearded men who's hands were usually covered in soot from the flames of a forge. But, Rendal's father has light blonde hair that was short and his hands were clean. He also didn't appear too strong, but, if he's a blacksmith he must be.

When Rendal's father saw Theron he quickly bowed "My lord." he said.

Rendal's father is named Ronan and was born in Balder. His mother, Ada, was preparing dinner in the kitchen. Ronan invited the king in for dinner at the door and the king accepted kindly.

"If you don't mind me asking my lord, why have you come to _my _home?" He said it like he never dreamed the king would be in their home.

"Well," Theron began. "During the battle against the drakes today, one of the bastards knocked my sword and shield away and had me cornered. I thought I was a dead man."

"Well, thank the gods for your survival." Ronan said

"No," Theron said. "Thank the gods your son was on the wall."

Ronan looked confused at the king then looked at Rendal. His son smiled sheepishly and bowed his head.

"My son?" Ronan asked.

"Yes, he grabbed a crossbow and shot it, right in its eye." Theron said.

Before Ronan, Ada, or Rendal could say anymore Theron stood. "If you would please, Come to my castle for celebrating after dinner."

"Oh but you could stay." His voiced was unsteady and filled with a mix of excitement and pride, not only did his son shoot a drake, he saved the king.

"No, I'm sorry but I have to see _my _son and prepare for the celebrating." Theron said.

It was the customs of balder to celebrate after a victory, after all, they needed something to boost moral after their kingdom is attacked.

Balder is a large kingdom and the king was greeted and praised by many peasants. He was pleased to see no one hungry or sick. It put Theron in a good mood to see that Balder was thriving under his rule. The king arrived at the castle shortly before dawn, and was greeted by his drunken generals.

"Another victory my lord." Nakim said, booze in one hand and a woman in the other. It was clear he had began celebrating before everyone else, like he normally does.

"Father." Erik cheered. "Another victory for the people of balder."

"And many more before that." Nakim agreed. "Most thanks to me." He said as he kissed the prostitute.

"It's time to prepare the feast." Theron said.

"Excuse me, my lord." One of Theron's servants interrupted. "I don't think your generals are up to the task of greeting guests in their… 'present state.'"

"Nonsense, Nakim and Erik have never disappointed. Have them begin." Theron stated

"yes my lord." The servant said.

With that, the servant went to get the others to prepare the feast and the entertainment.

At nightfall the citizens gathered on the castle walls. The area was lit with torches and alive with cheer and celebration. Nakim and Erik were in the courtyard along with most of their knights and Theron. The knights were wearing their armor but had their helmets removed. They would be ready for an attack, but, that rarely happened. Balder had only been attacked once during Theron's rule.

Bandits had leaped over the walls and began to rob the city. It was more of a robbery than an attack but when the knights and villagers seen the thieves it turned into an angry fight. The knights brutally tore apart the bandits. They didn't lose a single soldier. In the morning a small group, led by Nakim, hunted down the rest and slaughtered them all. Balder is always ready for an attack, even in times of celebration.

The king proceeded to the canopy that overlooked the walls and the courtyard and spoke loudly, so that his entire kingdom could hear.

"We have won yet again!" The statement was followed by a loud wave of cheers that bellowed throughout the land. "But, victory comes with sacrifices, so let us take a moment of silence for our fallen brothers." After a moment of silence the king continued. "I have seen many things in my long, wonderful life but never did I expect this."

The peasants mumbled in confusion.

"Today, someone saved my life from one of the ferocious drakes."

The peasants listened while the knights talked amongst themselves, trying to find out who had saved their king.

Theron smiled wryly. "That young man is the blacksmith's son Rendal!"

On cue Rendal walked to the king's side from the feasting room of the castle. Only a select few get to dine with the king during celebration, tonight those few were Ronan, Ada, and their son Rendal.

"For expressing bravery, honor, and love for his kingdom of Balder, I bestow on Rendal the honor of knighthood and present him with a Balder side sword of his very own." Theron beamed.

The peasants and knights stood in awe, no one this young had ever been named a knight.

"However, I can not allow you to fight at such a young age, I hope you understand."

"Of course my lord." Rendal bowed.

"However, when you become a man you will be guaranteed a spot in the knights after passing the trails, if you want to accept."

"Yes my lord." Rendal promised.

"Good, then let the night continue with a fight." Theron announced.

Everyone cheered and everyone knew what the king was referring to.

A strong iron cage was raised in the middle of the courtyard. It was very large and the knights had to get up against the castle's walls to fit. All of the knights moved back, except for Erik and Nakim who stayed and allowed for the cage to surround them. The door was left open, for now, as the servants left to collect the final piece of the show.

The final piece were creatures of the dead. They were once men and women, not from Balder of course, who died long ago and were hollow forms of their old selves. They were appropriately called "hollows" by everyone, not just in Balder but all over the land. In the land, if you die you can become an undead and venture to Lordran, the city of ancient lords. If you die when you're undead you become hallow and you're a mindless zombie attacking anything on sight.

These men were stray hollows that got too close to Balder and were captured. They are then kept in the castle's dungeon until celebration. The hollows were equipped with weak iron helmets, broken or weak swords and cracked wooden shields. Some were given iron breastplates and one had a battleaxe.

They were to be placed in the cell with the two generals and they would fight. Nakim and Erik were competing to see who could kill the most. All for the knights' and peasants' enjoyment.

"Bring in the hollow bastards!" Nakim yelled, ready for blood.

"I don't know Nakim these hollows seem to have your number. Maybe you're getting too old." Erik joked.

"Shut up boy you may be young but I have my wisdom." Nakim bragged, it was followed by a drunken burp.

"Right, when I'm your age I hope to be as smart as you." Erik said sarcastically.

"We'll see how confident you are when I kill more hollows."

"If so all of your drinks will be on me."

"I'll be sure to drink more than usual tonight then."

After that, the hollows were released into the cage with the generals. Erik and Nakim didn't attack at first, they waited for the monsters to come farther into the cage. After a moment of hesitation the generals charged into the swarm of undead ready to kill them all.

The hollows didn't realize what was happening at first. Three of them were killed before they began to attack. Nakim killed one with an iron breastplate and Erik had killed two, both with broken straight swords. One of them had a rapier but didn't use it correctly. It slashed instead of stabbed and Nakim cut it down easily. Another with a cracked shield and a short sword attacked Erik. He blocked it swiftly and killed it even faster.

Five more came into the cage quickly, which caught the generals off guard. One of them was the hollow with the battleaxe. Three attacked Erik and pulled at his shield. He stabbed at their heads but to no avail. The other two went after Nakim. He stabbed at them and killed one with ease. He pulled back his sword and struck at the other.

The hollow pulled up his buckler with surprising speed, he may have been a warrior during his life. It startled Nakim but the general bashed at it with his shield, knocking it back. Before he could finish, one of the hollows without a weapon threw itself at Nakim. It caught him at an angle that made him drop his sword and shield.

He grappled with it for a struggling minute. The battle axe wielding hollow brought up the weapon high above his head and meant to bring it down on Nakim and the hollow. Before it hit however, Nakim slid to the side but kept the hollow in its spot. The axe dug into its side and tore trough it. This was followed by a loud cheer from knights and peasants.

Erik was still fighting with the hollow on his shield. He dropped his sword and the monster wasn't letting go of the shield. He gave up on trying to remove it and set off on using his shield to bash in the hollows brains, what little it had left.

Nakim worked his way up and looked for a weapon and a shield. He decided on a rapier and a buckler from the dead hollows. The hollow brought the axe down hard again. Nakim blocked but the force of the axe knocked his arm down. When it raised up to attack again Nakim, jabbed the rapier into the hollow's side. It didn't flinch.

It slashed the axe to Nakim's side and he took the opportunity to parry the attack. Off guard the hollow was defenseless and Nakim dug the sword into the monster's eye and into its brain. Erik was finished off his opponent by driving the bottom end of his shield into the hollow's head, smashing it.

The final hollow, the one that used the buckler well, was the only one left. Instead of killing it the two generals looked up at Theron and Rendal, then smiled at each other. The generals grabbed either side of the hollow's .

Erik spoke, "Young Rendal, will you not do the honor of showing Balder your skills with a crossbow?"

"Ay it will be a grand finale." Nakim agreed.

Theron smiled at the boy and knelt down to face him. "Rendal, do you want a crossbow?" The king asked.

"I…" Rendal froze and looked over the canopy at the hundreds of knights and people looking at him. "I…"

"You don't have to if you don't want to." The king explained.

"Rendal, Rendal, Rendal…" Erik and Nakim began to chant, soon the other knights joined and soon all of Balder was chanting the young boys name.

Rendal turned back to Theron and nodded.

Theron smiled, stood and motioned one of his soldiers, who wielded a crossbow, over to them.

"Yes my lord." The knight said.

"Your crossbow, if you will be so kind?" The king asked.

After cocking the bolt back the knight handed it to Rendal. Who placed it on the edge of the canopy, and carefully aimed it at the hollow. There was a full moon out that seemed closer to Balder than ever, no clouds so that the moonlight shone over the kingdom brightly. Combined with the glowing embers of the torches and the cheers from the city it seemed like the best place to be in the world.

Rendal smiled to himself, aimed one last time, pulled the trigger and his smile grew larger when the hollow's head jerked back from the crossbow bolt and fell over dead.

After a loud cheer for Rendal the celebration resumed and not a single soul slept until dawn.

Seven years later…

Sixteen is considered the age when someone in Balder becomes an adult. Some are recognized when they're fifteen and very rarely fourteen. So sure enough when Rendal turned fourteen he tried out for the knights. In order to become a knight in Balder you're required to pass several tests in order to prove courage, bravery, strength, endurance, and so on.

When Rendal turned fourteen, the age when you're allowed to enter the trials, he went into the trials with no training or knowledge of the trials. He failed the first test. The first test is to slay twenty wooden dummies within a certain amount of time and Rendal had failed miserably. As is required he had to wait a year to try again. He didn't try again until a year and a half later.

Rendal has studied this time and trained. He completed all of his tests until the final two where he failed on climbing on a wall slick with oils. That test prepared the knights for harsh mountain climbing. Another year of hard training Rendal was ready to try again.

"Ready to fail again?" The baker's son, Fegan, teased Rendal.

Rendal snarled, "At least I have the courage to try on the tests, have you ever thought about maybe doing something instead of having your nose in your father's arse all day."

"Say that again you bastard!" Fegan retorted.

"What do you mean 'say it again' you're a cook, what are you going to do throw dough at me?"

"That's it!" Fegan yelled and grabbed a knife.

Rendal gripped the handle of his sword then stopped. He would fight him unarmed, that will show him.

"Brainless oaf I'll cut you to pieces!" The baker yelled.

Fegan brought the knife down at Rendal's head. The baker was untrained in combat and was swiftly disarmed by the training knight and had his arm twisted behind his back.

"Now baker what do you plan on doing now?" Rendal teased.

"No please let me go!" Fegan screamed.

Rendal pulled the arm, ready to break it if he felt like it, causing the baker to screech.

Rendal decided to let him go and pushed the baker away.

"You'll pay for that one." Fegan swore.

"For what? You started it remember." Rendal explained.

"No one will believe you."

"Are you thick or just plain stupid?" Rendal asked.

"What, I…"

"I saved the king once and was praised by the entire kingdom of Balder. You're just a baker."

Fegan grumbled and went back into the bakery. The two had never gotten along, but it wasn't Fegan's fault. Fegan's parents had told him to stay away from the other children. Basically, they kept him from having friends.

A door was kicked open in a building farther down the road, and Rendal was greeted by his old friend Nakim. He had women on either side and was obviously drunk.

"Then, I cut down three drakes in under a minute." The drunken general bragged. Usually people exaggerated stories when wooing women, but Nakim didn't have to, his stories were true.

Nakim's armor isn't shiny like the other knights in Balder. It is stained with the blood of his victims, and was a dark mix of blood, rust and age. Since the night Rendal was recognized for saving the king, Nakim had carried a Rapier and a buckler, and had become good at parrying and thrusting attacks.

Not only Nakim, but a lot of knights had taken to using rapiers and bucklers. It might be because they want to prove their strength, rapiers and bucklers are weaker than the Balder side gear and can be a challenge using. Rendal was terrible with these and stuck to his side sword or crossbow.

"Well if it isn't young Rendal, ready to pass the tests this time?" Nakim asked.

"Ay, ready to sober up for once?" Rendal teased.

"Nope, what's so good about being sober when you're not fighting drakes?" The general burped.

Rendal laughed, he would have talked to the general longer, but he needed to get to the trials. He didn't want to be late. You wouldn't fail because of arriving late, but it's disrespectful to no arrive on time.

Rendal enjoyed walking through Balder. It was nice to see the city still going strong. He knew a lot of people too and was somewhat famous for saving the king years ago.

He was greeted by men and women, some his own age, some older and some children also greeted the young training knight.

Rendal enjoyed the publicity and smiled as he walked through the streets of the giant kingdom. Before long he arrived at the castle gates. The gates were open freely to the citizens to enter the courtyard and the walls. Although they were guarded and people from other lands were not allowed to enter unless they're a messenger or have been requested to see the king.

Rendal walked to the courtyard that already had tests set up. The trials are viewed by the king, at least one of his generals, obviously it wouldn't be Nakim. Rendal saw Theron was sitting in the chair on the canopy and next to him was his general, Simon. Rendal was expecting to have Erik view his trials, and was disappointed it was the rookie general.

Simon, had been a general for four months and was nominated by Nakim. While on a trip, Nakim and his group were attacked by bandits. Nakim was knocked unconscious and when he woke up he found his entire squad dead save for Simon. Simon was one of the rapier wielding knights and killed all of the bandits. After some thought by Theron and Erik, the knight was recognized as a general.

"Young Rendal, you have swore to take the trails in order to become a knight of the kingdom of Balder." Theron spoke. "Once you are ready for your first trial, you may begin."

The first trial was to "kill" fifteen wooden dummies in a certain amount of time. Rendal cut the dummies down swiftly and passed the first trial. It was to test your skills with the Balder side swords.

Theron stood, "You have passed the first test."

After setting up more dummies farther away, Rendal was handed a crossbow. He stood at one of the castle walls. One dummy was placed in the center of the courtyard, the second was a in between the first dummy and the castle wall, and the last dummy was placed against the wall, opposite to Rendal.

All you had to do was hit the dummies. Not in the head or body or arm, you just had to hit them. Rendal carefully aimed his bow and pulled the trigger. The first dummy was hit the head and the force knocked it down. He reloaded the crossbow and shot the second dummy, also in the head.

With no surprise Rendal passed the second test with ease, it was meant to test your skills with a crossbow.

Theron stood again, "You have passed the second test."

Rendal wasn't worried about failing until he saw them setting up the third test. It was different. He was used to having the strength test next but when they set up the arena and a knight stood in the center with a wooden shield, Rendal realized they had changed the trials.

Rendal didn't know what the test would be until he was given a buckler and a rapier. After silently cursing Nakim he entered the arena, awkwardly holding the rapier and buckler. He was to be tested parrying and countering, which he was terrible at.

The knight brought the wooden sword down fast. Rendal swiped the buckler diagonally like the knights did but he was too slow and off balanced. The sword hit Rendal's arm and knocked the buckler away. Fear instantly filled Rendal's head and he felt like he was going to vomit.

The king stood. "I am sorry Rendal but you have failed the third test."

Rendal stared up, horrified, at the king and general his eyes were wide with shame, then turned to confusion when the king and general started giggling like children.

"A joke young Rendal, courtesy of general Nakim. Simon laughed.

After nearly having a heart attack Rendal stood laughing at himself. One thing the people of Balder loved about Rendal was his sense of humor. The _real _third test was the strength test. The trainee was to throw a large boulder a certain distance and once again, Rendal passed with ease.

"You have passed the third test." Theron announced.

The next test was the first endurance test. The contestant was to hold his head above an iron bar by flexing his arms and pulling himself up. It was hard for Rendal last year and he nearly failed, but today he also passed it with somewhat ease.

"You have passed the fourth test." The king stated.

The next test is the one Rendal failed last year. The knights brought in a wooden wall and lined up in the center of the courtyard. It was a long wall that was coated in slick oils. It was a true test of endurance and strength and the most challenging yet.

Rendal would be able to tell if he would pass this test or not as soon as he placed his hands on the wall. If it was hard for him he would surly fail, but if he could hold on strongly, he would be able to traverse the wall.

When he placed his hand on the wall he said a prayer to all of the gods to let his strength hold and when it did he thanked each of them. It was very hard and the oil always hindered Rendal, the entire way across the wall. Once he reached half way he felt weaker and began to fill scared. He knew if he fell he wouldn't be able to try again until another year.

"No," he said to himself. "Not again." He promised.

All he had ever wanted to do when he was young was become a knight. Seeing the knights in armor made him fill safe, they were the protectors of the kingdom of Balder, they were their saviors, they were heroes. Rendal wanted that, he wanted to be a knight, be general carry the sword, wear the armor and have the title of knight.

Through the self talk Rendal pulled himself across the wall and finished strongly. There were cheers and Rendal looked up and saw people on the castle walls cheering him on. Among them were Nakim and his parents.

"You have passed the fifth test." Theron said followed by a wave of more cheers.

The final test was to kill a small group of hollows. They raised up the cage like they did when Erik and Nakim fought for show six years ago. There wasn't as many hollows and they weren't as well equipped. Only one had and iron breastplate, the others had thin leather or simple clothing. Broken swords and weak short swords were their weapons.

Rendal was confused at first. Surely this would be easier than climbing the wall, he thought. He stepped up to the center of the cage and watched as the hollows entered. Rendal was given a side sword and shield, a crossbow, a buckler and rapier. He laughed at the rapier and buckler and then realized it wasn't a joke this time. The rapiers had become a common weapon amongst the knights.

The first hollow had on the breastplate, Rendal decided to kill with a crossbow. Not that he needed to but because the loud jolt from the bow would make the hollows realize what was happening, after all, Rendal wanted a fair fight. After the first hollow's head jerked to the side and it fell over dead, the others attacked.

One leaped across the floor and brought its sword down on Rendal with surprising speed. Rendal was faster, and he brought his shield up and knocked the monster away. He followed up by stabbing his sword through the hollows head. To his side one of the hollows snuck up on Rendal and brought its sword at the young trainee.

Luckily Rendal saw the hollow, and pulled his shield to his side. The shield deflected the hollow but left his torso wide open. He felt something strike his breastplate and when he looked he saw a hollow tried to stab him with a broken straight sword. He swept the sword across him as hard as he could. He tore off the first hollow's head and killed the one on his side.

Before he could continue he felt his leg give out from under him and realized a hollow had swept at his legs. He fell down and dropped his sword. The hollow stabbed at his hand when Rendal reached for his sword and started stabbing at his head and torso. Rendal held his shield with two hands over his body and started backing away towards his crossbow that he left on the ground.

He reached for the crossbow and pulled it under his shield. If the hollow had brains it would have went for his legs but, it kept attacking the shield. He cocked the bolt back and, after the hollow attacked the shield again, pulled the shield back and shot the bolt through the bottom of the hollow's chin and the tip pierced the top of its head.

There was only one left and it had a broken sword and no armor, only tattered clothes. It slowly walked towards Rendal. The young trainee smiled up at Nakim and threw the shield on the ground. Rendal took out the Buckler and rapier and started approaching the hollow. Nakim let out a wave of laughter, claps and cheers. The last hollow brought the broken sword down and Rendal smacked it away with the buckler and dug the rapier deep into the hollows chest, killing it.

The trials were over, Rendal had passed them all. After the king announced his victory, the city cheered for the young man. The young knight Rendal had passed the tests.

There is usually not a celebration for someone becoming a knight, but everyone wanted to see Rendal pass the trails so there was this exception. It wasn't as large a feast or party as there is when the knights when a fight but it was fairly large and Nakim and Simon agreed to fight the hollows for show.

"Care to join us this time young, I mean _knight _Rendal?" Nakim asked.

"Are you joking? Once for today is enough." Rendal laughed.

"Well then fellow knight, enjoy the show." Simon said.

The fight was fun and the celebration was better. It felt like the entire city was congratulating Rendal for passing his trials. He sat with his parents and Nakim and they toasted to Rendal, the King, and to Balder. The rest of the night was filled with joy.

Rendal woke up with a smile on his face. His first day of knighthood. He sat on his bed staring at the set of Balder knight armor, admiring the finely forged iron. Eventually he stood up and pulled the leggings on. The armor fit well and made him feel stronger.

He then slid on the breastplate and then the gauntlets. He holstered his shield and sword and carried his helmet at his side. Today wouldn't be an exciting day for the other nights, some would patrol the streets, guard the castle, and some wouldn't even dress in their armor. But, for Rendal it was the best day of his life.

He walked with the visor of his helmet up, as most of the knights did, and smiled proudly as he walked. He made his rounds around the streets, then went to the castle courtyard to train with some of the other knights.

"Well look at you." Simon beamed.

Simon and Rendal didn't know each other as well as he did Nakim, but they had taken a liking to each other and Simon had helped Rendal train for his trials.

Rendal laughed, "A knight of Balder." he beamed proudly.

"One of the younger ones too." Simon commented, "Congratulations."

"Thank you Simon."

"Thank you _sir_." Simon added with a smile.

Through all of the tests and celebrating Rendal didn't realize until now, when he looked up at Theron's chair, and the empty chair by his side. He hadn't talked to Erik in days.

"Where's general Erik gone?" Rendal asked.

Simon tilted his slightly, "I thought you'd have heard by now?" Rendal shook his head. " Simon smiled, he hadn't told anybody, most people knew. "Erik was sent on a quest." He said with a smile.

Quests are meant for only the bravest and highest of knights. Usually the king will send a group of knights to retrieve something but on quests a knight is sent alone.

"When?" Rendal cried, he was angry that no one had told him, but he realized he hadn't asked.

"Three days ago." Simon answered.

"Where to?"

"You know no one knows except the king and the quester."

"Well… yeah but I…" Rendal was speechless. He had known the generals for most of his life and always expected Erik as more of a fighter while in groups. Not a survivalist.

Simon laughed at Rendal's confusion. "Don't fret young knight, Erik will return in a few months and you can congratulate him on finishing his quest, he will surly become the next king after that."

In Balder, the throne is not passed down through royal family. Anyone can follow up the king and is usually named king by the citizens of Balder through an unofficial vote. Most kings have done something heroic or honorable to become the rulers of Balder.

Simon patted Rendal on the back and left to train some more. Rendal wasn't worried for Erik, he was sure the knight could handle himself, but, felt bad that the general wasn't in Balder to see him become a knight.

There were some rumors going around about the general's quest. Some said that he left to retrieve a treasure in the distant mountains. Others said that he was sent to kill a dragon, some even said he went hollow and this was a cover up.

Rendal didn't believe any of these. He was looking for Nakim to see if the general would tell him anything. He knew Simon wouldn't, he respects people's privacy too much, but, if he could get a few drinks into Nakim he knew the old general would talk.

Maybe a little rude on the young knights behalf but, he was eager to find out where his friend had gone.

He found the general in a brothel, not a surprise, he looked for Nakim in the bar first and when he didn't find him there he came here.

He waited for the general to walk to out of the house then took him to get some ale.

"Congratulations knight Rendal." Nakim toasted, raising the bottle high above his head.

Rendal raised his bottle too and took a sip while Nakim downed the entire bottle and ordered another.

"I heard about Erik going on his quest." Rendal said after the general finished three more bottles.

"Ay the young man volunteered."

"Volunteered for what?" Rendal asked.

Nakim raised his head slowly and stared into Rendal's eyes. "Now, I know you didn't hunt me down, take me here, and give me some ale just to know where Erik went to?"

Rendal looked down ashamed

Then Nakim busted out laughing. "That's something I would do!" The general laughed.

After the laughing Nakim said, "you didn't have to get me drunk you know? I would have told you anyway."

"Sorry, Nakim I'm just curious is all, and everyone acts all secretive."

"That's because it's Erik's own privacy." Nakim said. Which caused Rendal to feel a little ashamed. "Good thing I don't respect people's privacy." The general laughed.

"So," Rendal said. "What have you heard?"

Nakim stopped laughing and took a sip of ale. "He didn't go on a quest like usual." The general began. "The caravan from Berenike arrived with stories of a drake."

"A drake?" Rendal asked. "That's it?"

Nakim laughed, "No, not even close." They said it was huge, the biggest drake they'd ever seen, bigger than a dragon. It was still a drake though, they could tell from its look. They said this beast tore down a bridge, from side to side, took the whole thing down. Theron sent a small group to look and sure enough, the entire bridge was out."

"But, no one seen the drake. Erik volunteered to look for it and is to report back to Balder as soon as he sees it."

Rendal wasn't now only worried for his friend's safety, but now for the entire kingdom of Balder.

"What do you think?" Rendal asked shaken.

"Well, I know one thing." The general said and waited for Rendal to nod "The knights form Berenike don't lie."

Months passed and after a year people realized Erik wasn't coming back anytime soon. The horrible news swept through the kingdom in wave of grief. Everyone respected the young general and children looked up to him. Although he wasn't officially dead things didn't good. Nakim and Simon waited in the kings room for their orders.

Theron didn't seem too worried. He had faith in his son and trusted that he was still alive. Although Nakim and Simon, because of the stories of the giant drake, weren't as confident.

"Do you think we should send a group to search for him my lord?" Simon asked.

"My son volunteered for this mission, he will be fine." The king responded.

"With all do respect my lord," Nakim began. "General Erik is months late, it might be a good idea to send a small group to look for him, Erik is my friend, I'll go with group, just give me the order."

"I respect your bravery, Nakim." Theron responded. "But, if it were you, you would want to finish on your own."

Nakim didn't respond, he would want to succeed, or fail, on his own.

The caravan from Berenike arrived the next day for Ronan's weapons and armor. Ghar, was the leader of the caravan. He stood ten feet tall and in heavy steel armor. He was with four other knights from their kingdom and they always paid well for the smith's gear.

"Ghar." Rendal called to his old friend.

"Hello, knight Rendal." Ghar greeted. His voice was deep and he looked like he could tear apart twenty drakes alone, but, Rendal knows that the giant isn't a brainless brute, and is actually fairly wise.

"Any sight of the drake or Erik?" Rendal asked.

"No, we haven't seen anything, didn't your king say he was probably up north?"

"Well yes but, he originally left towards Berenike, the king just hopes that he's alive." Rendal answered.

They talked some more about Berenike, Rendal had always wanted to go, He imagined the buildings to be larger than the ones in Balder because of the large knights that come from there. Eventually Ronan and Ada came outside, Ronan carrying the gear he had forged.

"Ah, a fine trade, Ronan, as usual." Ghar commented.

"It better be, these maces are hard as hell to forge." Ronan responded.

The knights of Berenike used great swords, maces, and huge tower shields. Combined with their size, it took a lot of iron, and hard work for Ronan to craft. The knights were famed for their strength and were a welcomed ally to the kingdom of Balder.

"Rendal!" A voice called from down the street. The young knight turned around to find his friend Nakim walking toward their home.

"Nakim." Rendal greeted him. The knight realized something was wrong when he saw the general's worried expression. "What is it?"

"Get your helmet and shield, the king needs to see all of the knights in the courtyard at once." Nakim said then turned to return back to the castle.

The castle was filled with excitement from the knights. No one knew what was happening except for Theron, Simon, Nakim and Rendal. A woman had been found, not from Balder, just outside the kingdom. Her body had been burned badly and she kept crying out, in her own language, a single word. She was in terrible shock and wouldn't blink. No one spoke her language, but it didn't take a genius to realize it had been a drake.

Most drakes breath lightening breath, but not all. With the reports of the giant drake in the skies, and dragons being extinct, save for the duke of lord ran, what else could it have been. Humans could have done it to her, but in her shock no one was convinced.

The king had decided to send a group out to find the drake, Erik or both. Nakim had volunteered but the king wanted Simon to go. Simon was a better leader and Nakim could keep up the other knights moral if Balder got attacked.

"My fellow knights." Theron spoke, and all of the knights grew silent. "As you know, my son left for a quest one year ago. He has not returned."

Murmur swept through the knights.

"Enough." The king bellowed and the knights ceased. "Due to the event that has occurred I am going to send a small group to look for anything that has to do with drakes, or my son."

The knights bowed respectfully, awaiting who would be chosen to go. But, the king didn't announce who would go, instead he stood and walked back into his castle, leaving the knights confused.

Simon was to choose his group, he chose four other knights and, of course, Rendal.

"Are you prepared to go on this journey?" Ghar asked concerned for his young friend.

"Of course, I _am _a knight." Rendal reminded him.

"I wonder if the king would allow me to accompany you." Ghar thought.

"I don't need your protection, Ghar." Rendal assured him.

"Oh, I'm not concerned for your safety, I would like to see the drake though." Ghar said.

"Really?"

"Well," Ghar started. "About two weeks ago one of our knights went missing. It isn't common for a knight from Berenike to up and leave, and if the drake managed to kill one of _our_ knights, I think it's important we see it ourselves."

After talking to Simon and Theron, Ghar was allowed to join the group on their journey.

"Thank you for allowing me to join you." Ghar said to Simon.

"Are you kidding?" The general laughed. "With your help if we get jumped by bandits or drakes they'll be dead within a minute."

Rendal went back to his home after the news that he would go on a journey. He hugged his mother hard and she cried for him. Truthfully, Rendal was terrified. There was a giant drake flying around, preying on people and if a Berenike knight was killed by it, how would _he _survive.

But, it wouldn't be proper for Rendal to show his fear. Not only would it be disrespectful to his friends, but the knights of Balder were known for their bravery. Rendal's father came into the room, holding something in his hand.

"What's that?" Rendal asked his father.

Ronan pulled back his fingers, revealing a ring.

"A ring?" Rendal asked.

"Not just any ring, it was passed down to me from my father, it holds good fortune and can protect you on your journey." Ronan responded.

Rendal took the ring. It was a finely crafted steel ring but other than the nice look held no other value. Rendal placed the ring over his finger and accepted gratefully.

After Ghar sent the caravan on their way and Simon and the other knights said goodbye to their families the small group stood together at the northern gates of Balder.

"Another fine day of knighthood, eh Rendal?" Simon smiled at the young knight.

"The finest." He responded, returning the smile.

It was a good day. The sun shone brightly in the sky and the ring somehow made Rendal feel safer. The group stood at the gate for a brief moment, looking back at their city, in case it was the last time they would ever see it.

Ghar looked up at the beautiful sun. "Praise the sun." He said. Then the group left Balder in search of a beast of legends and a lost friend.

The group marched tirelessly for two days until they came to the first village. It was a small community with the basic stores, Blacksmith, an inn and a doctor. It was nearly night time and the knights were tired, so they rented rooms in the inn. Each room had two beds so the group rented three rooms and two knights would stay in each room.

The next morning the group was woken up by screaming. A woman was screaming and a man was yelling words, Rendal couldn't recognize them though through the excitement.

When Rendal went outside he saw that Simon and another knight were standing amongst a large crowd.

"What's happened?" Rendal asked his companions.

"Bandits." The other knight, Drak, spat on the ground.

"They stole from a couples house and kidnapped their daughter." Simon explained.

"That's horrible, doesn't this town have guards?" Rendal asked.

"Yeah, they're over there." Drak motioned over to a wall. There were two men slumped against the wall. They carried short swords, wooden shields and leather armor. They also looked drunk and unkempt.

"Disgusting." Rendal spat.

"Agreed," Simon said. "Perhaps we should help, after all maybe the townsfolk will help us if we help them."

"Do we have time to play hero, general?" Drak asked.

"Of course, what else are we going to do?" Simon asked.

"Maybe look for Erik?" Drak suggested.

"We can look for him while we save the damsel in distress." Simon said. "Besides if we can't handle a group of bandits, do you really think we would fair well against a drake the size of a dragon."

"I'm ready when you are, general." Rendal stated.

"There, you see?" Simon asked Drak. "The boy has more courage than you."

"After you, general." Drak said.

"Good, I think us three should be capable, let the others sleep we can handle this with ease." Simon said.

The three knights approached the grieving man and woman and Simon spoke to them, trying to comfort them.

"Where did the thieves take your daughter?" The general asked the couple.

"The bastards took them to their cave up in the mountains." The woman cried through her tears. "They took her, we tried to stop them but they forced us away." She broke down in a flood of tears.

"Please help us get her back, please." The man begged.

"It's no problem," Simon assured them. "We'll help."

"Thank you." The woman cried, "Thank you so much."

The three began up the mountain immediately. The man convinced the group to allow him to join them, he wanted to help save his daughter of course. His name was Mirdon and he was the blacksmith in the village.

He carried an iron short sword and leather armor and could move fairly fast. He kept up with the knights through their trek and showed no signs of slowing down.

The knights came to a steep wall of rock with smaller rocks sticking out along the wall, just big enough to use as a ladder. Above the wall, near the mountain's peak, was a cave with smoke from a fire seeping out of it.

"There's the bastards cave." Mirdon spat.

"How many are there?" Drak asked.

"A lot, they aren't as well equipped as you but they beat our village's soldiers, in skill and equipment." Mirdon explained.

"Well, we won't get your daughter back standing here." Simon stated. "This wall's big enough for all of us to climb at once. We climb up together and catch them off guard."

The four began climbing the wall. The knights had no trouble, but, Mirdon struggled a little at first. After he found his way half way up the wall he climbed better and scaled the wall with ease all the way to the top.

The bandits wore thick leather armor. They carried large iron battle axes, bows, and long swords. Their shields were circular with round cuts on the top and bottom. They were painted red and had a drawing of a black spider stretched from side to side. The first bandit to die was setting by the edge of their cave, eating some goat they had just cooked. Rendal dug his sword into the back of the bandits head, spewing his blood and brains onto the ground and meat.

Before the bandits could realize what was happening Drak slit another bandit's throat and Simon and Mirdon threw one out of the cave and into the darkness of the forest far, far bellow the cave.

"Attack!" The bandit leader yelled, and the others came down onto the knights and the blacksmith.

One of the bandits with a short sword slashed at Rendal. The young knight pulled his arm up, blocking the blade with his gauntlets and digging his side sword into the bandits stomach. The bandit didn't die, but would bleed out soon. He gripped his stomach and sliced his sword at Rendal again, this time connecting with the knights arm, cutting it slightly.

Simon and Mirdon were attacked by five bandits who slashed wildly with their crude weapons. Mirdon had trouble fighting, but Simon was far to advanced a fighter to panic and he killed two bandits before one hit him. It was a bandit with a short sword, she attacked his legs and sliced his ankle. Infuriated, Simon bashed his shield at the woman's face. Her head jerked back and she bled through both of her nostrils.

Mirdon finished her off by stabbing her in the head with his sword, she fell over dead. The other two bandits pulled up their shields, defending now more than attacking. Mirdon attacked but one of the bandits smacked the sword away with his shield. Before he could follow up with a kill, Simon, brought his sword deep into the bandits stomach and up into his chest. While he was killing the bandit, the other savage brought his axe above him and meant to bring down into Simon's head. Before the bandit could finish, Mirdon stabbed the brute in his throat, and killed him swiftly.

Drak was being attacked by two bandits. Both had axes and both delivered strong blows. Their axes however, could not falter the sturdy Balder shield and Drak held his ground. He saw an opening when both bandits attacked at once, and both failed to knock Drak's shield away. The knight stabbed his sword into one of the bandit's stomach and tried to attack the other. Before he could connect the bandit grabbed the knight's shield and pulled it away.

It would have worked except the bandit that was stabbed was choking on his own blood, so there was no one to defend the crafty bandit that stole Drak's shield. Drak held the side sword with both hands and stabbed at the bandit with full force. The sword pierced the bandit's eye and tore through the back of the savage's head.

Rendal finished off the bandit that attacked him and looked around. All of his friends were fighting bandits. Rendal saw at the back of the cave, in front of what looked like treasure chests, the bandit leader, pulling back a bow and aiming for Drak. The young knight ran past the hordes of fighting knights and bandits and went straight for the bandit leader.

The leader was caught off guard by the knight and was tackled onto the ground, dropping the bow and arrow. He punched at the knight, only harming himself against the knight's strong iron armor. Rendal tried to attack the savage but was swept off and found himself bellow the bandit being punched by a wave of fists.

The young knight was more skilled than the bandit, however, and pulled the brute off and threw him onto the ground. Rendal grabbed his sword and brought it down into the bandit's chest and through his heart. The bandit twitched and coughed up blood for a few seconds, then stopped moving, and finally died.

Mirdon was the last to kill a bandit. A woman who Simon had stabbed in the chest, near her heart. She would have bled out but Mirdon wanted to kill her himself, so he brought his sword into the bandit's throat.

At the back of the cave were several treasure chests, and the blacksmith's daughter. Mirdon ran back to the cave to meet his daughter who was coming out into the sunlight, _very_ slowly. Mirdon stopped. His eyes were wide with terror and his jaw began to drop hopelessly. The knights had begun to celebrate but stopped and stared and the smith.

His daughter stepped out into the light of the sun and the knights realized what had happened. If his daughter had simply been dead it wouldn't have bothered the group so much. She was still wearing her clothes, a white dress that she probably wore well. Her skin was the horrible, disgusting skin of a hollow and her eyes were a frightening empty orange, the eyes that had been stripped of their humanity.

Mirdon stared at his hollow daughter in silent horror. Even the strong knights were horrified. So horrified they didn't even realize the hollow raise her sword up.

"NO!" Rendal screamed when he saw the blade.

Mirdon couldn't move. His daughter brought the sword down and tore it through his head. He fell over dead and pulled the sword out of the hollow's hands.

Defenseless, the hollow bent down to pry the sword out of her dead father's head. Rendal and Drak quickly grabbed the hollow's arms and held her in place. Simon started near Mirdon and looked back and forth from the dead blacksmith and to his daughter.

"They… must have branded her… I don't…" Simon stuttered. He was referring to the curse of the dark sign. A cursed brand that causes someone to become undead when they die. Then, if they die again they become hollows.

The hollow didn't know what was happening. She only knew how to kill. She stared around, not seeing anything, at the knights then looked at Simon when he knelt down to meet her face to face.

Simon, Nakim and Erik had killed hollows for sport for years. They saw them only as animals meant to be slaughtered. As he looked around at the blood soaked cave and Mirdon's corpse he realized he would never be able to kill the hollows for sport.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." Simon said quietly to the hollow. "I truly am sorry." The general then stabbed the hollow in the head. Killing her for the final time and let her body fall down next to her father.

The hardest part was telling Mirdon's wife. She cried, harder than ever, for her dead husband and daughter. The knights had tried their hardest but had to move on to find their lost friend. No one told the knights anything about a drake or Erik, and the towns people gave the knights dirty looks, like it was their fault Mirdon and his daughter were dead. After all of the knights were geared up, the group moved on, wanting to leave behind the town forever.

"What happened back there?" One of the other knights, Jacob, asked Simon.

"I don't want to talk about." Simon responded, and they marched in silent for a few hours.

They came to a water fall shortly and made camp. The moon was out and its reflection glistened in the dark lake bellow the water fall. Rendal was sitting, alone, by the lake, He was looking at the ring his father gave him before the trip and realized how much he missed Balder and his parents.

It wasn't cold out but, Rendal felt a chill. He was tired and wanted to return home. He questioned Simon's judgment for the first time. Why had the general chose him to go on the quest, why did he only send three people to fight bandits, why hadn't he saved Mirdon? Rendal pushed the questions deep inside of him and swore not to bring them up again. After all it wasn't Simon's fault, Rendal should have been prepared. He _was _a knight from Balder.

The group woke up when the sun peaked over the horizon. Jacob took out the map and looked it over. They would stop at two more villages, then go through the swamp and finally trek to the top of a mountain to scan the area for signs of the drake. Then they would make there way back to Balder and report to Theron.

"Sounds easy enough," the knight, Gregor commented.

"Unless they go as bad as the last village." The other knight, Lance, said.

Simon flashed Lance a dirty look but didn't say anything, the knight as right.

The group marched on but, didn't talk that much. Rendal, Simon, and Drak were sill shaken up from the village, although the proud knights would never admit it, they had lost some hope for Erik's survival.

The group came to the next village in three days and rented an inn. The beds were made of crude wood and straw and the rooms smelled foul. Rendal was about to fall asleep when he felt something slimy slither onto his leg until it disappeared behind the bed. He didn't sleep the rest of the night.

At dawn the group moved on. They didn't want to stay the cesspit of the town any longer. After asking some people about Erik or the drake, to no results, the group left. Thankful that no one needed their "help."

The next village was miles away and would take about a week to reach on foot. The territory was a straight path surrounded by thin woods on either side. It was a great place to be ambushed by bandits or other savages at night. So, at night the group would have someone on watch and they would shift every two hours.

The first night was quiet and the knights moved on without struggle. Same for the second and third. On the fourth night the group made camp at the side of the road like usual and the knights went to sleep, except for Lance, who was on watch first.

Rendal dreamed about Mirdon and his daughter, as he did every night since the incident. In his dream Mirdon's daughter ran into his arms and they hugged. It was after they saved her from the bandits. Then her skin began to decompose, taking her father with her. They both turned hollow then turned on Rendal. The knight slashed at them with his sword but it simply passed through them, like attacking a ghost. Then they were on top of him, tearing him to pieces.

Lance shook Rendal awake.

"What's happened!" Rendal yelled, drawing his sword.

"Calm down, Rendal." Lance snapped. "It's your turn to keep watch."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Rendal said, calming down.

Lance settled into his leather sleeping mat and was asleep within minutes. Rendal sat against a tree near the road. He had his sword holstered but held a loaded, and cocked, crossbow in his hands. The young knight was tired and began to doze off. He managed to fight off his urge to sleep and managed to stay awake.

After two hours of silence Rendal stood and went to wake up Drak so that he could begin his shift.

"Hey Drak." Rendal shook the knight. Drak mumbled something then rolled over.

"These shifts are hell on my sleep." The knight complained.

"Could you hurry up Drak, I would like to get _some _sleep tonight." Rendal begged jokingly.

In an instant a roar bellowed through the path and shook the trees all around the road. Drak and Rendal jerked around to see what the noise was while the other knights rubbed their eyes and slowly began to wake up. It wasn't a bear, or a wolf. If it were, Rendal and Drak wouldn't have been so terrified. Even at night anyone from Balder would recognize the horrible flying beasts. It was a drake.

Jacob stood up, still not aware of what was happening, and the drake bit at his head, pulling the knights head, and torso into its mouth. The drake jerked the knight around in its mouth until it threw him out, slamming him into a tree. Jacobs back struck the tree and his back exploded in a horrible sound of breaking bones. He died instantly.

The other knights were now awake and ready to fight. Rendal aimed his crossbow and fired at the drake. The beast turned its head, however, and caused the bolt to strike his torso, doing nearly no damage. Before Rendal could reload the drake charged into the group, breaking them apart. Rendal, Drak, and Ghar fell to one side, while Lance, and Simon fell to the other. Gregor got caught on the Drakes head and was forced back with the beast.

Gregor stabbed at the drake's eyes and managed to tear out one. Before he could finish the second one, however, the drake sunk its teeth into the knight's side and tore off most of his stomach, causing the knights guts to spill onto the ground. He screamed in pain but was silenced by a scratch from the drake, which decapitated him.

Drak and Simon rushed the monster and stabbed at its legs. It roared and breathed a lightening attack at the knights. They both rolled out of the way. The drake tried to follow up but as its hand flew out a mace smashed it into the ground. It was Ghar who attacked it with his mighty club. The drake's hand broke and it roared at the Berenike knight but was silenced by a another strike from the giant knight. The drake roared and threw itself at the knight, knocking him down.

Drak and Simon sliced at the beast, while Ghar struggled under it. Lance was loading the crossbow and trying to hit its other eye. Rendal had a plan. They were near the trees and you can't do much damage to a drake unless your attacking the head. Rendal, gripping the ring his father gave him, climbed up on of the near trees. He dropped his shield on the way up and cursed, but kept climbing.

At the top he looked down at the beast. It was still attacking Ghar but couldn't tear through his hard steel armor. Making sure the drake wouldn't move, Rendal leaped down from the tree and threw his sword at the beasts head. The sword went through the drake's head and, with the help from Rendal's weight, through its brain.

The drake thrashed out and twitched until it fell over dead. Rendal rolled off and fell onto the ground. The others rushed to his side to make sure he was safe.

"Are you okay, Rendal?" Simon asked as they helped the young knight up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rendal said, looking at the drake's body. "Is it dead?" He asked.

"I'd say so." Ghar laughed. "You _did _tear through brain after all."

"That was amazing." Lance laughed, "You keep that up and you'll be a general before you know it."

Rendal flinched, he never realized he was general material. Then again he _did _dave the king.

"Sadly," Drak said. "Victories don't come without sacrafices." He motioned at Gregor and Jacob's dead bodies.

"We should bury them now." Simon said. "Give them a hero's farwell."

Although they were sad about their friends death, the other knights realized just how much potential the young knight Rendal had. Not just because of tonight, but _he _was one of the younger people to become a knight and he did save the king when he was only nine years old.

This has only been the beginning of the young knights life and all ready he has amazing stories to tell of his bravery. The young knight was surly destined to do great things.

"He's one of the best fighters I've seen." Drak admitted to Simon.

"Yes," The general agreed. "I've noticed. It wouldn't be unproper to recommend him as a general would it?"

"Why would it be unproper?" Drak asked.

"Well he's young, but, his fighting skills." Simon explained.

"I know one thing." Drak said

"What's that?"

"The only other people I've seen fight like that are Erik Nakim, and yourself, general."

The next village was huge. It had three inns and merchants lined the streets. In fact, to call it a city would be more proper. The five knights entered the city an hour after dawn. They split up to buy equipment they would need to trek thorugh the swamp.

Lance and Simon went to get leather trousers and shirts, these would help against snakes and mosquitos since the Balder armer didn't have any protection for the knight's thighs. Rendal and Drak left to get potions or purple moss, whichever the stores had, and which ever was cheaper. Finally, Ghar went to ask around for any news of Erik or the drake.

Drak and Rendal walked around the streets looking for merchants.

"You know?" Drak began, "Simon was really impressed with your fighting last night."

Rendal felt a rush of honor sweep over his body. "Really?" Rendal asked, trying to hide his excitement.

"Yeah, he even thought about requesting you be made a general."

Rendal felt proud of himself. He tried to hide his smile. While he didn't realize that he had picked up on unique fighting tactics from training with Erik and Nakim, he knew he could fight well, but, not _that _well.

The duo walked until they found a merchant that specialized on "swamp equipment."

He wore tattered clothes that included hard leather boots to protect from the swamp creatures.

"Have any moss or potions to cure poison?" Rendal asked the merchant.

"Of course, how much moss do you need?" The merchant asked.

"How much for each pouch?" Drak asked.

"Three copper coins for each." The merchant responded.

"Give us ten." Drak said and after they paid the merchant they left to meet their companions.

They found Ghar first. He had been asking around town for any news and actually had some information for the first time on their trip.

"I met an old man who claimed to have seen a giant red drake over in the distant mountains." The knight explained. "He said it was far away, but could tell it was bigger than the usual beasts. He said it flew up north towards the volcano."

"Any news about Erik?" Rendal asked.

"People said they saw a knight from Balder pass through. But, they said he didn't stop and moved into the swamp without proper gear."

"That couldn't be Erik," Rendal said. "He's too smart to not gear up properly."

"I don't know, do you know any other knights who were sent this way?" Ghar commented.

"Well no… but." Rendal started.

"Don't worry, Rendal," Ghar said. "I'm sure he's fine. He _is _a general."

The knights asked some more people about the drake and Erik, but, didn't get any new information. They walked for another hour until meeting up with Simon and Lance.

The general was carrying a knapsack with four sets of leather trousers and shirts to wear over their armor.

"Sorry, Ghar," Lance said. "They didn't make gear for giants."

Ghar laughed, "I'm sure my steel armor will serve me well, better than any thick leather."

"Probably a good idea to rent rooms for the night." Rendal recommended. "It's going to get dark soon."

"Yeah, we'll leave first thing in the morning." Simon agreed.

The inns were a very nice change from the sleeping mats and the knights felt like kings after the past days they've had. They slept well, even Rendal, who didn't dream about the dead for the first night after leaving the first village.

At first Rendal thought the nightmares had returned. A scream shattered through the inn and woke him up. He put his hands to his ears and tried to push the nightmare back into his head. The second scream made him realize it wasn't a dream and he felt the horrible memories of Mirdon and his hollow daughter creep into his head. He looked for Drak, who he usually shared a room with, but, saw the knight was already gone.

After putting on his armor, Rendal made his way outside. There wasn't a crowd surrounding an area this time, but instead a crowd was running away. Rendal fought his way through the screaming wave of peasants and looked around for his fellow knights.

There was a large group of soldiers standing in the middle of the road. They had small leather shields and long swords but, didn't look like very good fighters. Mixed in with the soldiers was Rendal's fellow knights, swords drawn, ready to fight.

Rendal ran up to see what was going on. He saw five people standing in the streets. They were wearing light brown tattered hoods and light armor. They wielded bandit knives and target shields and were walking towards the line of soldiers. What made Rendal realize that these were no ordinary thieves was their eyes.

He couldn't see their faces due to the hood casting a shadow over their head, but, their eyes were glowing a horrible, eerie orange. It was the eyes of a hollow. A soldier rushed forward, yelling a war cry and threw his sword at one of the hollows. The monster moved to the side with swift speed and dug its knife into the soldiers head.

"What are they?" Rendal asked with horror.

"I thought they were hollows but they move too fast." Lance said.

"They're hollows alright." Simon explained. "They just kept their fighting skills when they died. Some hollows do that, there's no telling what makes them do it, but, sometimes it just, happens."

Three more soldiers rushed the hollow thieves. Two of the rouges jumped on top of one of the soldiers and they both dug their knives into his chest. Another thief jumped onto the other soldiers back and slit his throat. The final soldier slashed his sword but the hollow parried his attack and follwed up with a stab in the stomach. Within seconds the soldiers were dead.

"This isn't going to work." Simon yelled angrily. "Everyone!" He was commanding his knights and the city's soldiers now. "Attack! If we rush them, we can take them down."

All of the men rushed obediently at the hollows yelling and swinging their swords. The thieves were overhelmed and were forced to retreat. One of the soldiers dug his sword into one of the rouge's back and it fell over and twitched a little before dying.

That first kill increased the men's moral and they attacked harder and more fierce. One of the thieves turned around to attack and Ghar brought his giant mace down onto the hollow. Its head split open and was crushed into the ground from the knight's mighty hammer.

Two soldier cornered another thief but it leaped up and sliced through their throats before they could finish it off. Rendal shot at the rouge with his crossbow but it deflected the bolt with its shield. Drak followed up however and finished the hollow off by stabbing it in through the thief's head.

Lance rushed forward and salshed at a one of the rouges. It was a powerful slice and would have killed the thief. However, the hollow had its shield up and parried the knight's attack. It followed up by digging its knife into Lance's chest.

"Lance!" Simon yelled, and rushed forward for his fellow knight.

The hollow raised its shield back up to parry Simon's attack too. The general, however, realized the hollow's plan and kicked the shield away. Open to attack, Simon drove his sword hard into the hollows stomach, then he kicked the thief away and checked to see if Lance was alive. He wasn't.

With only one hollow left the town's soldiers surrounded it and drove their swords into the thief's body until it finally died. The soldiers cheered and raised their swords up to praise the gods. The Balder knights and Ghar were standing over their dead companions body, paying their respects.

"How many more will die for this quest?" Rendal asked. Tears were forming in the young knights eyes and it took a great deal of effort to force them back.

"Easy, Rendal, he died as a noble warrior." Simon said.

"Yes," Rendal said without hesitation. "Yes of course."

The group carried their friend's corpse to the city's graveyard to bury him. They said a prayer to the god of war, lord Gwyn's eldest son, and went on their way.

"The swamp's going to be hell." Drak commented.

"Yes and Lance was the one with experience in swamps." Simon agreed.

"Excuse me." Someone called from behind the group.

The knights turned around to find the merchant that sold moss to Rendal and Drak.

"Oh, it's you." Rendal said to the merchant.

"Yes, I'm sorry for what happened to your friend, I ried to get here as soon as I could, but, I missed the action." The merchant explained, he was wearing the same tattered clothes and carried only a small wooden shield.

"No offense," Drak said. "But, I don't think you could have done much."

"Nonsense," the merchant insisted, "What's the worst that could have happened? I die again."

Rendal gave the merchant a confused look, "_again_?"

"Ay, I was branded with the dark sign after I became ill. I'd love to travel to lord ran in search of teachers of pyromancy."

"Pyromancy?" Rendal asked.

"Fire magic." The merchant explained . He exdended his hand. "My name is William, from the great swamp."

Simon was someone who enjoyed traveling. He wasn't very old and had already visited Astora, Vinheim, and Berenike but never to the great swamp. He had several questions for the young pyromancer. William was an expert at survival, as most people from the great swamp were, and agreed to accompany the knights on their trip through the swamp.

"How do your people survive in the swamps?" Simon asked in minor awe. "All of the people I've met, which isn't a lot, from the swamp always wear light armor and carry wooden shields."

"Well, we are taught pyromancy at a young age which helps out for beasts and bandits." William explained. "We also carry axes but I felt no reason to bring mine on my trip to Lordran. Besides, my pyromancy comes in handy a lot more."

The group walked on through the city with their new friend. William would join them until they came to the final mountain, where the pyromancer would part ways for his trip to the land of ancient lords.

They finally arrived at the edge of the city and marched into the muddy water. When Rendal looked ahead all he could see was darkness, save for the ugly green water, twisting trees, and a snake that was at least twenty feet long slithering down a tree.

The swamp was miserable. Mosquitoes bit the group constantly and it only got worse at night. They were especially hungry for Drak's blood and the knight was covered in bites and sores.

"Can we please light a fire." Drak begged his companions.

"If we light a fire it might attract larger predators." William explained. "I guarantee alligators are much more ferocious than the mosquitoes."

The next morning the group packed up and headed into deeper water. The muddy creek went up to their waists and they had to carry their gear above their heads. They trudged through the murky water at a snail's pace and tried not to think about what lurked in the creek.

There was a mount of land with three trees on it in the water. The group decided to make camp there.

"Normally I would advise against it," William explained. "Alligators might sneak up on us and drag someone into the water, but, we need to get out of the water and we need our rest."

"I think we can handle a lizard." Rendal assured the pyromancer.

"Not if they catch you off guard." William argued.

The group sat up their sleeping mats in the center of the island and close together, so they would be ready if they were attacked.

Rendal, Simon, and William were awake while Ghar and Drak fell asleep swiftly.

"Sure wish I had his armor." Rendal complained, motioning to Ghar. The heavy armored knight had hardly been prey to the hungry mosquitoes

"The bugs will let up when we get closer to the end of the swamp." William assured. He looked at the knights questioningly. "Why have you decided to travel through the swamp?" He asked

"Well," Simon began. "We need to get to the mountains, and while this isn't the safest way to go it's the quickest, and we need to get there fast."

"You think you'll find your friend in the mountains?" The pyromancer asked.

"If not the swamp then yes, the mountains."

"I see." William said. "You knights are very honorable, risking your life for your friend."

"Well we _are _from Balder." Rendal bragged.

The group wasn't interrupted throughout the night and woke up two hours after dawn. They marched through the water tirelessly, eager to leave the swamp as soon as possible.

"We must be near the end." Drak said hopefully.

"Afraid not." William said. "We just hit a part in the swamp where the mosquitoes aren't as fierce. Don't worry though, they'll go back to being hungry soon enough."

The group laughed at Drak who didn't find the joke funny and grumbled swears at William, mosquitoes and the horrible swamp.

"Don't worry Drak we can't -" William had started to say that the group wasn't really that far from the exit, but, before he could finish a monstrous snake threw its head out of the tall trees and wrapped its gaping maw over the pyromancer's head.

The knights screamed at first, not realizing what had happened. The snake was huge. It was taller than a tree and had its body wrapped through several of the swamp trees, waiting for its prey to enter its area like the pyromancer had. Without constricting William, it tilted its head up and pulled the pyromancer into its mouth, swallowing him alive.

The knights threw their swords at the beast, who had retreating into the tall trees, to no avail and they watched their friend disappear into the snake's mouth and enter its stomach. They looked around for something, anything to save their undead friend, but, found nothing.

When all hope seemed lost for William, Rendal noticed a small orange circle forming on the snake's belly. It took the young knight a second to realize that the flare was coming from inside the snake and it was growing.

"Look." Rendal said to his fellow knights, pointing at the snake's stomach.

"What is…?" Ghar started to ask.

Before he finished the snake's stomach exploded in a furry of fire and guts and spewed over the knights. William fell out and landed safely on the ground.

"Damn snakes." He spat, then smiled at the Balder knights. "May we continue?" He asked his companions, who only stood, jaws dropped, and stared at the pyromancer in awe. William laughed at the knights. "I told you, when you grow up in a giant swamp, you learn how to survive.

Before seeing that, the knights of Balder were confident that if the pyromancer turned on the knights, they could handle him, but, now they weren't so sure.

The group kept going, eager to leave the swamp. William was lucky to have been a pyromancer, but, if it were one of the others, they might not have been able to escape the snake's stomach. They hadn't felt no real danger in the swamp, and saw it more as a challenge than a danger. After seeing the giant snake, however, they only wanted to leave the cesspit.

The knights spent a week in the swamp. They were sore, tired, Drak and Rendal had been poisoned and had to eat the disgusting purple moss to cure their poison and they wanted nothing more than to leave. After a week of pain they finally cam to the end of the swamp. They pushed through thorns and vines and found themselves at the bottom of a long trail of mountains.

"Thank the gods." Drak cried and fell on the ground laughing. "I thought the mosquitoes would do me in. The mighty Balder knight Drak, killed by annoying bugs."

The group laughed at Drak and looked up at the tip of the first mountain, their final destination. There was also a path you could take the at crossed through the mountains. It was one of the paths to Lordran, the land of ancient lords.

"Well," William started. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Looks like it," Simon agreed. He shook hands with the pyromancer. "Be safe my friend."

Rendal, Drak and Ghar also shook hands with William, and then the pyromancer went his own way. He left on his journey to Lordran to seek out the great teachers of pyromancy.

"Well knights," Simon said. "We're not getting to the top of the mountain sitting here.

The group didn't climb immediately. They set up their sleeping mats and spent the night at the base of the mountain. Rendal was the last to fall asleep. He stared up at the top of the mountain and thought about everything he had been through. He remembered the first time his father had let him use the forge. He burned himself on the scorching embers. Rendal laughed at the memory of how he screamed and held his hand like it had been maimed.

Then he remembered his second time using the forge. He crafted a small iron dagger. He loved the knife and would carry it like a sword, he had wanted to be a knight even at that young of an age, and would yell at other kids who didn't obey his made up rules. One day though, Rendal went swimming in the lake and forgot to remove the dagger, it slipped out and sunk to the bottom of the lake, never to be found again.

Then he moved onto newer memories, like what happened to Mirdon and his daughter, killing the bandit's leader, and becoming a knight. The newer memories weren't as cheerful as his childhood and they made Rendal wish that he never had to come on this quest. The young knight fell asleep and was greeted by the faces of the dead.

The next morning, the knights began their climb up the mountain. It wasn't difficult. The Balder knights had had to pass the test of climbing an oil slick wall, and it was for occasions like this. Ghar was surprisingly a great climber and he kept up with the knight of Balder the whole way up the mountain.

They eventually came to a small cave that they would use as a camp. They sat their sleeping mats on the ground, as far back into the cave as they could get so no one would roll off of the cliff, and went to sleep.

Again, Rendal was the last to fall asleep. He was closest to the edge of the cave and stared out, over the kingdom of swamp, forest, and towns sat Balder, somewhere over the horizon. The full moon shone brightly over the kingdoms and made Rendal feel safe. Like lord Gwyndolin was watching over them.

Rendal was about to fall asleep when he noticed a shadow began to block out the moon. It started up from the bottom of the moon and it was the shape of a serpent. Then Rendal noticed the wings, and the large tail, and the legs. He started to jump up and yell at his friends to wake up. Then he realized the drake was flying over them, to the top of the mountains.

Rendal stayed perfectly still. He didn't dare move for fear of the drake seeing them. The flying beast was the largest drake he'd ever seen. It made the giant snake in the swamp look like an earthworm and flew through the air with one mighty swoop of its wings.

Rendal laid on his mat. Filled with fear and shock. His body felt limp and he couldn't move even if he tried. Rendal didn't get any sleep that night. He held his side sword close to him, ready to fight if the giant beast attacked. Although, he didn't know what he could possibly do with the sword against the giant drake.

The next morning Rendal told his companions what he had saw. They would have thought he was joking, but, could tell by his tone and fear that it was true.

"Was the drake really as big as everyone says?" Drak asked.

"It was the biggest drake I've ever seen." Rendal said. "I don't know how we could stop it. Even with the entire army of Balder fighting at once." It was clear that the young knight had lost all hope after seeing the beast.

"Listen to me, Rendal." Simon said, placing his hand on the knight's shoulder. "We need to keep going, we need to find Erik."

"You really think he'll be at the top of the mountain?" Rendal yelled. "You think he'll be at the one place we didn't look, you think we'll find him? No, he's not here, he wasn't in the towns he wasn't in the swamp he's gone!"

Simon stared into the young knights eyes. He looked confused then he turned to anger and punched Rendal in his face. The knight held his nose as it started to bleed and looked hurt at his general.

"You don't disobey your generals." Simon said sternly. All of these years Rendal didn't see the generals as higher authority, he saw them more as friends and talked to them like he would a normal person. Now he remembered the oaths he swore on when he became a knight. Simon could have Rendal's knight status abolished if he felt like it.

"Apologies general." Rendal bowed.

"We keep going, we're almost at the end and we need to see this through, or Lance, Jacob, and Gregor died for nothing." Simon said sternly

"Yeah," Rendal said, unconvinced.

The group packed up their gear and started climbing the mountain again. Rendal was slower today and fell behind on several occasions. The other knights had to yell at Rendal to keep him going. In truth, Rendal felt no hope for, not just Balder, but the world. Drakes are fierce monsters that kill with ease. Imagine one the size of the legendary dragons.

"We're almost to the top." Drak said called while looking up at the top of the cliff.

"Just a little further." Simon agreed.

"It's almost night." Rendal said.

"What's your point?" Simon asked.

"We're going to the top to look for signs of the drake and Erik, if it's dark we won't be able to see." Rendal explained.

The general stopped climbing and sighed. "He's right, we need to find shelter for the night."

They scaled around the mountain until they found another cave indent in the rock. They placed their mats on the ground and got ready to sleep.

"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep." Rendal complained. "With that monster flying around I don't…" He trailed off into silence.

Simon looked at the young knight. He imagined the knight would be stronger. He had considered requesting the knight be made a general but seeing how he handled something like this there was no chance.

"Maybe I could, no…" Rendal looked like he was about to collapse into tears.

Simon grabbed his shield and walked up to Rendal.

"What?" Rendal asked his general, looking at the shield.

Simon brought the shield up and hit the knight in the head, knocking him out. Rendal laid on the ground, motionless and breathing heavy, like he was snoring. The general rolled the knight over onto his mat and let him sleep.

Ghar and Drak stared at the general, boggled.

"Well, he said he couldn't sleep, I was just helping him out." Simon explained with an innocent smile.

Rendal woke up with a horrible headache. He gripped his head and rolled around on his mat grumbling.

"How's our head?" Simon asked, laughing.

"Bastard." Rendal said, but, he was laughing too miraculously. The blow to the head must have removed his negative thoughts and after his headache subsided he didn't feel hopeless any longer.

"I'm sorry, Simon." Rendal apologized to his general. "You should have seen it though."

"I'm sure we'll see it eventually, but, if hopes on our side maybe it won't be near Balder." Simon said.

The group packed up again and began climbing. It was the final stretch and the knights were eager to finish the climb. The sun wasn't completely out yet and the sky was a dark, eerie blue color. The mountain looked darker than it had for the past days and the air felt colder.

They made it to the top within minutes and they stood on the edge of the surface looking over the mountain. The top of the mountain was flat. It was large and might have been a volcano many years ago. In the distance there were volcanoes that erupted constantly and they gave off a strange beauty in the dark blue sky.

But, the knights weren't alone. Over on the opposite edge of the cliff was a man sitting, overlooking the other mountains and volcanoes.

"Who's that?" Drak asked.

"How should I know?" Simon asked.

The man stood when he heard the knights speak. Even in the dark of the early morning, the knights could tell it was Balder armor.

"Erik?" Rendal asked.

After the question, the knight turned around to face the group. His armor was scorched and he was missing his gauntlets. What was left of the red cape was tattered and burned and the knight had no helmet. Even with the disgusting hollow skin the knights could tell that it was the brave general Erik.

Rendal's heart sank and he felt broken inside. The hollow Erik drew his sword and shield and started towards the knights. It was obvious that he wasn't like the brainless hollows and was more like the thieves back in the city. The hollow general rushed forward, hungry for blood.

"Erik, but I… you…" Simon stuttered.

"He's going to attack, we need to fight." Ghar said as he and Drak rushed forward.

After some hesitation Simon rushed forward too. Rendal stood in horror as he watched his knights fight the hollow Erik

Ghar threw the mace down hard at the hollow. Erik dodged the blow and threw himself at the steel knight. Ghar was caught off guard and fell over. It felt like the whole mountain shook when the steel giant fell. The hollow general went to stab Ghar in his face, the only weak spot on the knight, but, Drak tackled him to the ground.

The hollow grabbed the knight's throat and threw him off with powerful might. Simon rushed forward and dug his sword into Erik's side. The hollow general didn't flinch and smacked Simon with his shield.

So many questions were running through Rendal's head. How did Erik become undead? HE must have been branded with the dark sign, but, from who? Before Rendal could piece the answers together he realized Drak, Simon, and Ghar were knocked out.

The hollow general turned his attention to Rendal and rushed forward at the young knight. Rendal gulped, then raised his sword and shield. Fear rushed through the young knight. To him, this was scarier than the giant drake. The one thing Rendal had feared was finding Erik dead, now, they will have kill the hollow general.

The hollow general threw his shield at Rendal, hoping to knock the knight off of the cliff. But, the young knight pulled away, Erik brought his sword up and connected with Rendal's iron breastplate. The sword bounced off and fell by the hollow's side. If Rendal was fighting anyone else, he would have finished them off before they recovered their sword, but, seeing his friend like this shook the knight and he hesitated.

Erik recovered his sword and lashed out again. Now that they were in the center off the mountain it wasn't about who could knock the other off first. Whoever was better with a sword would win.

Rendal blocked the sword with his shield and, for the first time, attacked the hollow Erik. The general still had his fighting skills and blocked the sword with ease and attacked again before the knight could block. The sword struck the breastplate again. Rendal realized he had gotten lucky with the first two blows. He would need to fight better to survive this.

"Erik, please." Rendal begged. The hollow looked at Rendal with empty eyes and kept attacking.

Rendal smacked the attack away and stabbed at the hollow's gut. He tore the skin open, but, Erik hardly flinched. The hollow general sliced at the knight and cut open his arm, causing him to drop his shield. Rendal panicked and grabbed at his shield, but, Erik was too fast and stabbed at the knight's hand.

Rendal held his side sword with both hands and stabbed forward at the hollow. Erik was too slow this time and the sword cut open his stomach and arm. The hollow general brought his sword down onto the young knight, who rolled backwards to avoid the strike.

Simon and the others were starting to get up now. They grumbled and coughed but were very much alive. Rendal took his eyes off of the hollow to check on his friends and the general rushed him. He bashed his shield hard against the knight's body and threw him backwards. Erik stabbed forward at the young knight, but, Rendal managed to deflect it with his shield.

Rendal stared at his hollow friend. Everything he went through to find this man. He watched friends die just to find this. A hollow sitting atop a mountain staring out into nothing. After everything he went through, he thought at least he would find his old friend Erik. Now the hollow general only wanted to kill his friends, to spill their blood and then what? What else would he do?

After realizing there was no hope for friend, Rendal pushed the knight away who stared at the knight with a blank, expressionless face.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." Rendal repeated the same words the Simon, had said to the hollow daughter of Mirdon. "I truly am… sorry."

The hollow Erik rushed forward, and Rendal, let out a loud, bellowing war cry as a volcano erupted in the distant early morning sky. He rushed to meet the hollow general, Erik sliced and Rendal smacked the attack away and followed up by stabbing the hollow, deep in the stomach. He followed through, pushing the sword as hard as he could into the general's stomach until the blade pierced the hollow's back and the top of the hilt was touching his belly.

Erik let out a dry, broken grunt and smacked his shield and the hilt of his sword at Rendal's chest, to no avail. The hollow fell down on his back, while Rendal held the sword and took it out of the general's stomach. Erik twitched once until he fell silent and limp. The general was dead.

For the first time since he was a child Rendal cried. He didn't bawl, but a single tear trickled down each eye and he fell on his knees beside the dead general's lifeless, hollow body. He simply sat there, staring at the dead body of his old friend. Erik had been like a brother to the young knight. He had helped him train for becoming a knight and brought him gifts when he would travel. Why had this happened to him?

It would have been better if they had simply found him dead, there wouldn't be as many questions. But, someone doesn't simply become undead. You have to be branded by someone, and no one would brand themselves unless they wanted to venture to Lordran. Erik had no reason to travel to Lordran, he had a life back in Balder and was destined to become king.

Rendal felt something on his shoulder. It startled him at first until he realized it was only Ghar who had placed his hand on Rendal's shoulder, trying to comfort the knight.

"How did this happen?" Drak asked. "How did he become undead."

No one answered, and Ghar gave him a look that told him not to talk right now. Simon stared at his dead friend. He too was close to the general and seeing this tore a piece of his sanity away. This would haunt Simon's dreams for many years to come. He couldn't show his fear though and held strong. Something that boggled the general though, was how had Rendal managed to kill their hollow friend? With all of the knights combined they failed to stop the general, even Ghar the ten feet giant fell. Rendal though, had managed to kill the hollow.

Before Rendal could recover, or Simon could ask any questions a roar shook through the air and the group turned to face the danger. The drake was sitting on the opposite edge of the mountain, staring at the knights. It simply looked at them, not moving, growling, or even attacking, it just looked at them. Which, for some reason, appeared much more frightening than a growling dragon. They were maybe twenty feet away from the flying beast.

Up close, in the light, they saw it was red instead of the usual blue. It was huge and towered over the knights with amazing size. Then it started walking towards the group. It's stomps were loud and fierce and its wings spread making it look even larger.

Simon spoke, so softly that the others could just barely hear him, "get to the edge of the cliff, and be ready to jump into the cave."

On cue the knights turned and fled and leaped into the cave. They breathed heavy and huddled into the back wall of the cave. They would be safe if the beast didn't know where they were at. With a ferocious roar the drake breathed fire over the top of the mountain. The fire splashed down, like a waterfall, and covered the door of the cave. After a few minutes it roared and breathed another fire attack.

The knights stayed as still as they could and held their breath. None of them dared breath. They waited in silence for what seemed like hours until the drake flew away. They watched the giant beast fly away in the horizon until it turned and headed left, the direction of Berenike.

"No." Ghar said and walked to the edge of the cave. "It couldn't be heading for Berenike? Could it?"

"We need to… get back to Balder." Simon gasped.

"Who's telling the king?" Drak asked.

"We'll tell him together." The general said.

"To hell with that." Drak stated.

Simon gave him a dirty look. "Fine, me and Rendal will tell him if you don't have the courage."

"It's not fear, sir. It's just… we've already told a mother her daughter was hollowed and killed, I don't know if I can do it again."

Simon placed his hand on his fellow knight's shoulder. "Listen, Drak. I understand, but, the king will want to know, can you at least accompany us?"

Drak sighed. "Yes sir."

The knights waited for an hour. They were still shaken and waited for the shock of near death to subside. After they could stand with ease again they sat off. None of them dared go back to the top of the mountain for fear of seeing the burned remains of their hollow friend, or if the giant drake returned.

The trip home was much easier. They faced little trouble in the swamp and only Simon was poisoned by a spider, to which he ate a purple moss clump. They were attacked by no more snakes or hollows or drakes and made it back to Balder within a month. The streets were alive with excitement everyone was eager to hear what had happened. The knights marched through the streets silently, only stopping to inform the widowed wives of Lance, Gregor, and Jacob.

Ghar arrived just when the caravan from Berenike was returning home. He explained what had happened quickly and joined them to the trip to Berenike. Simon, Rendal and Drak came into the castle and met with the king and the king alone.

"You look awful." The king commented.

Rendal didn't notice during the trip, but, The knight's capes had torn and their armor was muddy and covered in blood.

"Any sign of Erik or the drake?" The king asked.

"Yes my lord." Simon began.

The general told the story of everything that had happened on the groups journey. When he got to the part about how Erik had hollowed, Rendal glanced up at the king and was surprised to find Theron didn't react. He didn't appear sad and he just sat motionlessly, listening to the story. Once Simon had finished the knights stood and awaited orders.

"This is troubling news." The king said. He sounded distraught and appeared to be thinking of the next move. "You three need rest, return to your homes and sleep, eat, clean your gear. You may tell your families of the journey, but, no on else."

"One more thing my lord." Simon said. The king gestured for him to continue. "I would like to request that these two be made into generals."

"I will discuss with you and Nakim tomorrow." The king said.

The knights bowed and left the castle. Without saying anything to each other, they went their separate ways to return home. Rendal was met with question after question by hordes of people. He pushed them away and marched to his house, eager to sleep in his comfortable bed.

The knight finally made it to his home and laid in his bed. He would go to his parents house in the morning and tell them about his trip, but, now he only wanted to sleep, praying to every god to not let the faces of the dead meet him in his sleep. The gods did not listen.

Rendal woke up and left for his parent's house. His mother cried and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her and his father and sat down in the kitchen chair. He started at the first town. He told them of the tragic story about Mirdon and his daughter. His mother cried about the story and his father shook his head with disgust for the bandits.

He then talked about the journey to the third village and how Jacob and Gregor were killed by the drake, and, how he had killed the flying menace. He moved on to the third city and how they lost Lance and met William. Rendal then told his parents about the snake in the swamp and the way William had been eaten then killed the snake from inside.

He ended with the story of how he had to kill his hollow friend. Ada gasped and Ronan's jaw dropped slightly and bowed his head and said a silent prayer for the dead general's soul. After Rendal finished his tale, he looked at his parent and gave a faint smile. It wasn't a happy smile, it would take a miracle to fix Rendal. Right now the knight was broken and miserable.

"Thank the gods you're alive." Ada said wrapping her arms around her son.

"No one should have to do what you did, I'm proud of you." Ronan said, placing his arm on his son's shoulder.

Rendal hugged his parents back, happy to be home.

Rendal spent the day at his parent's home. They talked about what had happened in Balder while Rendal was away, but, mainly Rendal just sat in a chair, thinking about the horrible journey. Ronan tried to talk about the better parts in Rendal's journey, but, the talk always ended up leading to Erik.

A few hours later the door opened and a welcomed familiar face appeared.

"Rendal." Nakim beamed, greeting the knight with far too much pep.

"Nakim." Rendal greeted the general.

Nakim placed his hand on the knight's shoulder. "I'm sorry about Erik, he was a ear friend to both of us."

"You don't seem so hurt." Rendal noted, with more hate then intended.

"You won't feel so bad when you hear the good news." The general assured.

"What?"

"Get ready for a great life, Rendal, you're becoming a general." Nakim smiled and waited for the knight's reaction.

Rendal didn't react immediately. He just stared at the general, thinking about everything that has happened. "I don't want to be a general."

"What!?" a voice yelled from behind the two knights. Rendal and Nakim turned to find Ronan in the doorway. "The one thing you've been chasing your whole life and you say no?"

"Father I just… I can't deal with anymore death." Rendal begged.

"Then why did you become a knight?" Nakim said with minor disgust.

Rendal looked hurt and stared, jaw slightly dropped, at the general.

"I've seen many of my friends die in battle." The general said. "But, we are knights from the mighty kingdom of Balder." He was yelling at the knight now. "We don't cry over the dead. If anyone should be sulking it should be lord Theron, but, our king is king for a reason, he's strong, he's a warrior, he doesn't get knocked down from death."

"If you want sympathy from me you best look elsewhere," The general yelled. "If you were a real man you'd march your ass into the castle and become a general like Erik would have wanted. And, another thing. You don't think Erik knew the risks of the quest. He went for a reason, he went because it's what someone from Balder would do. We don't fret and cry over losses for the rest of our lives, no, we push forward."

Rendal and Ronan stared at the scruffy general. Neither of them ever thought the general would talk like that, neither of them knew he even _could _talk like that.

After a minute of thinking Rendal walked out of his parents house without saying a word.

Nakim went back to the castle and waited for the young knight arrive. Drak was called in first but rejected the title of general. He didn't feel he was general material and was dismissed. Rendal walked into the throne room. Theron was sitting on his throne, with Simon and Nakim on either side.

Rendal walked up to the throne and knelt down, in front of the king.

"Knight, Rendal." The king began. "You have been chosen, for your bravery, honor, courage, and love for your home, to be appointed as general of Balder. Do you want to become a general?"

Rendal didn't hesitate. "I do." He responded.

"Do you swear to continue to follow the rules of knighthood, and swear to lead the other knights into battle if the need comes?"

"I do."

The king stood and removed his sword. He placed the blade gently on the knight's shoulder, like he did when he makes someone a knight, "I hereby name you, Rendal, a general of Balder and the highest authority bellow king."

"Thank you my lord." Rendal said.

Then, after the simple ceremony was over, Simon and Nakim shook hands with the young general and congratulating him. Rendal now saw a reason to continue his life normally. He would always miss his friend, Erik, but, he no longer felt sad. He knew the gods would watch over his friend's soul in paradise.

That night, Balder had a celebration, and it was a good night.

The next two years flew by There were no wars and no attacks so the new general simply relaxed in his wonderful kingdom of Balder. It took Rendal a few months to realize the full amount of power being a general held. The only generals he had known his whole life were, Nakim, Simon, and Erik, and they were more like family than higher authority.

Rendal was eating one day and accidentally tripped over a knight's stray shield. Any knight would have laughed or fought about it. But, the knight who owned the shield rushed to general's side, apologizing and begging not to be punished. The incident made him think of how ruthless the other general's are, if a knight was that worried of being punished.

Rendal thought about starting a family, but, being a general requires full attention to the job, and he feared he would have no time to spend with his wife or children. The general wasn't lonely though. He had many friends, his parents, and had a few relationships over the two years. He would explain to the women that he didn't want a family and they would eventually move on.

One day though, during the middle of the day, the knight on watch called for an attack. The peasants rushed into their holds and the knights prepared for attack. Rendal grabbed his, sword, shield and the steel ring his father gave him two years ago, and headed for the gate.

"What's attacking?" Rendal asked.

"Bandits sir." The knight answered.

Rendal looked over the wall and scanned his enemies. Nakim and Simon weren't around so it was Rendal's job to lead. There were maybe twenty bandits lined up at the castle gates. Axes and knives ready for blood.

"Don't bother attacking." A bandit near the front yelled. "We come only for the one called Rendal."

The bandit was dressed differently. He wore black leather clothing and carried a long sword as a weapon. His shield looked familiar and it didn't take long for Rendal to place it. It was the same shields the bandits used that kidnapped Mirdon's daughter years ago.

"What do you want with Rendal." The general yelled.

"We want his head." The bandit leader yelled.

"Prepare the crossbows," Rendal ordered his knights.

After the men with crossbows were ready to fight, the general walked to the kingdom gates. The gates were opened slowly and Rendal, along with nineteen knights walked out to meet the bandits.

"This is about what happened two years ago right?" Rendal asked, even though he knew the answer.

"You should have checked the bodies." The bandit said. "You killed all of them, including my brother, except for one. She told us your name, and that you were the one who killed our men and women."

"Could I ask you something?" Rendal asked.

"What?!" The bandit spat.

"Why did you turn that poor girl into an undead, then kill her till she hollowed?"

The bandit leader laughed. "Because, the smith owed me money. Any more questions?"

"No." The general said, then drew his sword.

The bandits pulled out their weapons and shields and prepared to fight.

"Now!" Rendal shouted, and the knights wielding crossbows peaked over the wall and fired at the bandits. Eight of the twenty bandits fell over dead. Three more were fatally wounded. The leader deflected the bolts and rushed at the general. He threw his sword at the knight. The general blocked the blow perfectly with his shield but felt a pain surge through his body. He yelled and fell backwards. The bandit laughed and attacked again.

Once again, the general blocked the attack perfectly, but again, the attack still harmed him. The general backed away, with his shield up, and glanced at the bandit. He realized the bandit's sword was glowing a faint dark blue color, maybe magic of some sort.

The bandit tripped the general and fell on top of him. The savage was holding something, and brought down, trying to stab the general in the eye. No, not stab, _brand _it was the brand of the undead. If Rendal was branded with that he would become undead and eventually go hollow like Erik.

It all came together quickly within the general's head. This man was the one who had branded Erik. The bandits must have caught him off guard and branded him then killed him. Then the giant drake burned him with its scorching breathe and turned him hollow.

Rendal, with the increased strength from his anger pushed the brand away and pulled the bandit off of him. He grabbed the brand and threw it into the bandit's face, connecting with his eye. The brute yelled and gripped his branded eye.

"What have you done?" The bandit cried. "What have you-?" Before he could finish, Rendal dug his sword into the bandit's stomach, killing him.

Once all of the bandits had been killed Rendal carried the soon to be undead into the castle and tied his arms and legs together. He took the bandit's body into the king's room and waited for him to return to life.

It didn't take long for the bandit to return to life. Or become an undead. He sat in the throne room, staring hopelessly at the king.

"How many more bandits are there?" Rendal asked the undead bandit.

The bandit spat on the throne room.

"Let me give you a lesson about men with the brand of the undead." Theron said. "When they 'die' again their skin turns into that of a hollow. When they keep dying, over, and over again, they become completely hollow."

The bandit looked at the king with hateful eyes. "I'm not telling you anything."

Theron nodded at Rendal and the general stabbed the bandit in his head. He fell over and died again. A few minutes later the bandits skin began to turn a gross rotten color and his eyes turned a cold, dry black color. After another few minutes, the bandit returned to life.

He coughed and cursed Rendal, who simply waited for the bandit to calm down.

"Another death and you'll go hollow, several more and you'll be a weak, miserable excuse for a walking corpse." The general said to the bandit. "Just tell us, make it easier on yourself."

The bandit looked back and forth at the king and Rendal and eventually let out a hoarse sigh. "There's twenty- seven of us left." The bandit said. "We came to Balder to kill you," He was referring to Rendal, "and, the king."

"Where are the others?" Rendal asked.

"They have the camp set up, about a mile, to the east of here. Now please, let me go." The bandit begged Rendal.

"Not my call." The general responded and gestured to Theron.

The king stood and said. "By a crime of attacking our kingdom and plot to assassinate the king, I herby sentence you to be killed until you have no memory of your former self." The bandit was wailing madly. "You will then be thrown into a cell, where you will stay until you are used as prey to the show we present our kingdom on celebrations."

Rendal and another guard grabbed the wailing bandit and Nakim, who showed up in the middle of the judgment, drove his sword into the bandit's stomach, twisting it until the bandit screamed. This was to see if he could still feel pain. If he cried out in agony, he was still too human.

After an hour of killing the bandit, as painfully as possible, the brute went completely hollow and was thrown into a cell in the dungeon.

"Rendal," The king began, "Get a group and find the bandit's camp."

"Right away my lord." Rendal bowed then left to gather his men and attack the remaining bandits.

He chose his old friend, Drak to accompany him and several others chosen at random who had volunteered to go. He would have taken Nakim and Simon, but, only one general was required for each journey. No matter how short the journey would be.

The group left as soon as they were ready and found the bandit camp easily. It wasn't shielded or blocked off, and, it sat in the side of the road open and unguarded.

Rendal sent four men on the other side and they were to attack at the same time as Rendal and his men. They would surround the bandits and catch them off guard.

A bandit walked to the edge of camp to see if the others were returning from Balder. Rendal dug his sword up, from the bottom of the bandit's jaw and up through his head. On cue the other knights rushed the bandits and cut them down. It didn't last long at all. The bandits were ill equipped and unprepared for battled and they fell quickly to the mighty Balder side swords.

There weren't even weapons for all of them, and some bandits died without a fighting chance. The fighting didn't last and within minutes the bandits were lying on the ground, all dead. The knights began to loot the treasure chests to try to find anything of value, after all, the bandits wouldn't be needing it.

There wasn't much, gold, silver, trinkets of little value. They were about to pack up when Rendal found something else. He flipped the lid of the chest up and a dim blue light covered the general's face. Rendal stared at the object in awe. It looked like a blacksmith ember except, the flame was blue. It burned at a constant blue and moved exactly like a blacksmith ember.

"What is it?" Drak asked, also lost in awe in the blue flame.

"Take it with us, we'll tell the king and see what to do with it." Rendal ordered.

The group obeyed and carried the treasure back to the castle. The king looked at the ember with a neutral face and thought it over.

"It's an ember from Vinheim." The king stated.

"Really?" Rendal asked. "I didn't know sorcerers used weapons."

"Some do, it might be from Vinheim I'm not completely sure of where it came from, but, it's definitely a magic ember. You can tell from the blue flame." The king answered.

"What do you want us to do with it?" Rendal asked.

"We have no use for it," Theron answered. "You may give it to your father if you wish."

"Thank you my lord." Rendal bowed and took the ember out of the castle.

He handed the chest to his father. Ronan opened the lid and stared at the blue flame in awe, like others who gazed upon it.

"What is it?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of the flame.

"A magic ember from Vinheim." Rendal answered. "The bandits had it and the king allowed me to give it to you. I'm not sure how exactly you forge a magic weapon but I'm sure you can figure it out of all people."

Rendal ate dinner with his parents that day before returning home. He laid in his bed and thought about his day. The bandits didn't bother him, he actually felt better for killing the one who had branded Erik, but, the fact that they found where he lived disturbed him. If they had been smarter, or, better equipped, they could have hurt the kingdom.

Rendal pushed the thoughts from his head and fell asleep within minutes.

Many more years passed and Rendal was enjoying his life as a general of Balder. His parents were wealthy, especially since Ronan began crafting magic weapons for the Berenike knights. Nakim and Simon were still going strong. There hadn't been many attacks, two both from drakes, and Balder's losses had been few.

Rendal was thirty-two now. He was one of the most well known people in Balder. Stories spread throughout the kingdoms. He was known as the man who had killed a drake when he was nine, an exaggerated version of him shooting the drake in the eye, the man who killed the bandit leader, the bandits were notorious in the land and people were very thankful to be rid of them.

The general had done many other heroic deeds during his years as a general and was destined to be remembered as a legend. His hair had darkened over the years and looked more like his mother's now than his father's. He had long hair and a short beard that fit him well. He had a small house, even though he could afford a large house, he preferred the smaller houses since he lived alone.

Rendal walked through the streets of Balder, proud of his title as general, like he normally did. The giant drake was still around. It had flown over the kingdom Balder one time, in the middle of the day. It startled the peasants and feared surged through the people. It was the only time it had happened though and the beast didn't attack. Until today.

It landed in the center of Balder in an instant. The people nearest to it screamed and fell into a panic. The drake roared a loud horrifying roar and breathed its scorching fire into two houses near it. The woman inside the house screamed as her flesh melted away into ash. Her son and husband were outside and tried to get to her. The drake blew fire into the house again and finished off the man and boy.

Another man and two of the knights attacked at the beast's legs. It pulled its hind leg back and kicked the men, killing them all with one hit. Rendal heard the commotion and rushed to the fighting. He turned the corner just when the monster attacked with its fire breath. Rendal quickly spun around the wall he had emerged from and just barely dodged the flames.

The drake towered over the houses and marched through the kingdom, killing anyone who crossed it. A woman was hiding in an alley. If she had stayed where she was, she may have survived. But, she panicked and ran out behind the drake, trying to escape. The monster turned and grabbed her with its mouth. Only her legs were visible, kicking painfully as the drake's teeth dug into her body.

The drake jerked his head back and forth until it finally threw the woman's dead body against a house. Then moved on to kill more. Rendal stared at the body in horror. Her hair was the same color as his and she sadly was a _very _familiar face. It was Ada. It was Rendal's mother.

Rendal screamed for his mother and rushed at the beast. He drove his sword into the monster's leg, as hard as he could. To Rendal's horror the blade bent, then snapped. The drake didn't flinch. It glanced at the general, then smacked him away with its tail. Rendal flew through the air and collided with a small wooden hut that collapsed over the knight when he hit. He passed out.

Rendal heard a woman crying and people yelling when he woke. There was someone pulling the debris off of the general. It was Simon.

"Where…" Rendal tried to ask where the drake went but only coughed painfully.

"Don't talk, Rendal." The other general said. "I don't know if any of the debris pierced your body."

Rendal obeyed and laid on the ground until all of the debris was off. He was thankful that he wasn't seriously injured.

"It killed her." Rendal felt like crying and would have if they didn't have to fight a battle now. "It killed my mother." "I know." Simon said glumly. "It killed my parents as well."

"What of my father?" Rendal asked.

Simon sighed. "The drake killed a lot of people. Some of the town people went after it. They were using weapons and armor crafted by your father. He was leading them."

"Why didn't you stop them!" Rendal cried.

"There weren't any guards around." Simon explained. "It was only me and three others against half of the kingdom, what were we supposed to do?"

Rendal growled, but, held his ground, blaming Simon, for this wouldn't solve anything.

"This is horrible." Nakim said, walking up to his fellow generals. "How could this have happened?"

"Are are we to stop that beast?" Rendal asked.

"The king is planning something," Nakim explained. "I don't know what it is, or even, how can we fight it, but, lord Theron will think of something."

"He better think of something soon." Rendal said. "IF that monster attacks again, it may very well be the end of Balder."

The people that left to kill the drake, including Rendal's father, never returned. What was worse, was that the knights could do nothing for them. They had to stay in the kingdom or risk losing their kingdom. The knight's moral was low, and, the kingdom seemed so empty.

"What are we to do my lord?" Rendal asked Theron.

"We need to wait and see if the beast attacks again." The king answered. "We will not be caught off guard again."

The knights were mixed within the castle and the city. If they were to be attacked in the castle, the knights in the kingdom would rush to their aid. If they were attacked in the kingdom, the knights in the castle would do the same.

"This waiting is murder." Nakim said. The general was usually more cheery, but, the drake's attack sapped the joy out of everyone, even Nakim.

The knights didn't have to wait long. They were attacked again the next day. This time the drake targeted the castle and was accompanied by two smaller drakes. The knights panicked. They were afraid this would happen. That the drakes would gang up on the kingdom.

But, the knights didn't hesitate. If they were to die, they would die fighting. The knights yelled their legendary war cry and rushed the beasts. The large drake breathed its fire breath, while the smaller drakes fought with their teeth and claws.

Ten knights were killed before they were able to scratch the drakes. Nakim dug his blade into a smaller drake's foot, then bashed his shield at the monster's head. The drake leaned back to bite the general's head but, before it could finish, Drak rushed forward and stabbed the drake in its mouth. The knight pushed forward and killed the drake by stabbing its brain.

Nakim laughed. "Fantastic kill Drak." He congratulated the knight.

Drak smiled, he was happy to have helped. He had never actually been the one to finish off a drake and was happy for his kill. But, the knight's victory was short live, the large drake punched its claw through the castle wall and grabbed Drak. The knight screamed and Nakim tried to help him, but, the general was caught on the claw and pulled out on the outside of the castle wall.

The drake pulled Drak up, close to its face, and stared at the knight. Drak was sweating and screaming against the drakes mighty grip. He was kicking, trying to get free, to no avail. The drake roared and bit the upper half of Drak off and swallowed the knight's torso. It then threw the knight's legs away and kept attacking the castle.

Nakim was holding on to a stray wood plank. He was dangling high up on the outside of the castle. The general managed to pull himself up, back into the castle.

Rendal was attacking the smaller drake. It was ferociously scratching and biting at the knight. He deflected the attacks with his shield and pushed the drake away. Rendal turned and fled outside of the castle. The drake followed, snarling monstrously, eager to hunt down its prey.

Rendal stopped in the middle of a road and turned to face the drake. He was smiling. In the several alleys, on either side of the road, Berenike knights came out into the light and attacked the drake. They cut it down with great swords and maces and Ghar was the one who bashed its head in.

"Nice to see you again Ghar." Rendal thanked the giant knight.

"We need to keep fighting." Ghar said. "If we all attack the beast at once we can take it down."

"Yes, we have to return to the-." Before Rendal could finish, he noticed something happen.

A man had leaped out of the highest window of the castle, and onto the giant drake's head. The beast roared and thrashed, trying to knock the knight off. Although he was old, the man held on and stabbed at the drake's head, trying to pierce its brain. It was the king of Balder, Theron.

Theron stabbed and stabbed, but, the drake's scales were too strong and it wasn't making it easy on the old king. It moved constantly and jerked back and forth. The king gave up and attacked the drake's eyes. He missed and, after exhausting all other options, grabbed the sword with both hands. He pulled upwards and meant to drive the blade hard into the beast's head.

Before Theron, could deliver the final blow, the drake jerked down, causing the king to lose his balance. It then pulled to the side and threw the king off of its head. The king rolled down its neck and onto it back. The drake shook until Theron fell to ground. The king's legs snapped and broke and he fell onto the ground.

The king screamed and grabbed his legs. The drake saw the man and stared at him for a few seconds. Then the beast pulled back its head and breathed it horrifying fire at the king. Theron screamed as he was engulfed by the flames. He thrashed and fell over. His pain was short lived, however, and the king died in the flames, as his body burned to ash.

The drake wasn't the only enemy in Balder, however. Deep in the castle dungeon the hollow bandit sat, waiting for his time to strike. It took a great deal of strength not to scream when Rendal was gutting him for several times. He was nearly completely hollow. If Rendal had killed him one more time he would be nothing but a walking corpse.

The bandit was a sorcerer. He knew many spells that could break him out of his cell, but, what would be the point? He would escape, then be killed by the hundreds of knights in Balder. But, once he heard the screaming and roaring he made his move. He broke the locks with a simple spell and he, along with all of the hollows in the dungeon left.

There were maybe a hundred undead in the cells, waiting for nothing. The bandit broke them free as well. The hollows wouldn't attack one another and only wanted to spill the blood of the living. They left the dungeon to do just that.

Theron was dead. The drake was killing countless of people and the knights were powerless to stop it. Rendal had a plan. It wasn't the best idea and could result in his death easily. The blue enchanted ember he found years ago made the general become interested in magic. On one of his many journeys, he bought several spells book from a merchant from Vineim.

There was a way to craft a metal plate that provided extreme protection to the person's body. He had a plan to craft the plate, using the enchanted ember from his father's blacksmith forge. He had to find someway to hold the plate, however, so he could use his sword to fight the drake.

He had a plan to smelt the plate to the ring his father gave him. Rendal thought he was crazy for doing this, but, maybe, just maybe it would work. He might be too late to save Balder, but, he could at least try to save other kingdoms from this horror.

Although Rendal didn't have much experience on a forge, he crafted efficiently. The book said to cut symbols into the plate after you flatten it. Then forge it over an enchanted flame. Rendal followed the instructions and managed to craft the steel plate into the steel ring.

The ring looked surprisingly good. It had a few rough edges, but, other than that, looked intriguing. Rendal placed the now enchanted ring over his finger and felt his muscles tighten an grow harder almost instantly. It hurt at first, but, after his muscles adjusted made him feel unstoppable. He was about to walk out but then remembered his sword had broken against the drake's scales.

His father had several Balder side swords crafter, for show mainly and emergencies. Rendal thanked his father's spirit and grabbed a sword. He placed the sword over the enchanted flame and hammered more ore onto the blade, making it stronger, sharper, and enchanted.

The drake was killing peasants when Rendal emerged. It roared into the castle and breathed fire into the rooms. Rendal had also crafted enchanted crossbow bolts and loaded the heavy crossbow, and fired at the beast, trying to get its attention. It was holding one of the Berenike knights and, when the arrow hit, thankfully piercing its scales, it roared and drew its attention on the general. It crushed the Berenike knight by squeezing its hand. Tearin through the knights armor with ease.

The drake flew down and breathed fire at the knight. Rendal placed his shield up. His skin burned and his cape was tattered away. But, he was alive. The drake looked surprised and flew down to face the knight. They were standing on the opposite ends of the street, staring each other down.

Rendal, for the first time, pulled the visor to his helmet down, so that it covered his face. He smacked his sword with his shield, bating the drake to attack again. The beast roared and rushed forward. Rendal pulled his shield up and held his ground. The drake bit the knight in his arm holding the shield. The shield bent into nothing and Rendal's gauntlet was pierced by the drake's large fangs.

Luckily however, not only did Rendal's arm stay in place, some of the drake's teeth broke from the hard skin. Rendal smiled. His plan was working. All he had left now was his sword, which he held with both hands now. He rushed forward and sliced the drake's leg with his enchanted blade. The beast's scales tore away and its blood spilled over the ground.

Everyone could tell from the painful roars that the drake was not used to feeling pain. It pulled its head back and roared up in the air. While it was moaning, Rendal stabbed the drake in its chest and drew blood again. The drake flew upwards to attack with fire again. It pulled its head back to attack but, before it could finish, Rendal threw his sword upwards and into the drake's throat.

The beast coughed and growled and, before it could fly away, Rendal ran up and pulled the sword out of its throat. Rendal jumped up onto the drake's back which was closer to the ground now that the beast was injured.

He was aiming for the wings now. Rendal didn't want it to escape, just to heal and come back for more victims later. He hacked through the wing and it fell off of the drake's back and onto the road. It screeched loudly now, not from anger but, from fear of dying.

Rendal jumped forward and cut into the beast's neck as hard as he could, cutting it, and slicing a main artery. The beast growled one last time and fell onto the ground, breathing heavily. Rendal jumped off of the giant drake and walked to its head to look it in the eyes. It was breathing heavily and looking around hopelessly.

He thought about his mother, father, Theron and Erik. This monster had killed them all, it was the one that turned Erik hollow years ago, it was the one that had broken the kingdom of Balder and killed their king. It was the drake that caused this misery. Houses were burning, hundreds were dead, and worse of all, the king was dead.

Rendal screamed at the beast, causing it to flinch. Then he started at the tail. He hacked it away, starting at the tip and moving up towards its hide as he cut the tail to pieces. The drake roared in agony. Then Rendal cut its legs away, and its other wing. The drake died during Rendal's rage, but, the general kept hacking away.

During his fury, the surviving Balder knights, including Nakim and Simon, and the three surviving Berenike knights came to the dead drake. Their king had died and Rendal was the only one who killed the drake. Single handedly with only a sword.

The Balder knights knelt down around the general, bowing down to him. He has showed numerous times that he is the strongest of all of the knights, he deserved to be their king.

After an hour, the giant drake lie dead, in pieces, in the middle of the road. Rendal fell to his knees and breathed hard. Nakim, Simon, and Ghar rushed to his side and helped him up.

"Are you alright my lord?" Simon asked.

Rendal looked curiously at the general. He had never expected to be referred to as a lord and the title comforted him slightly. The four knights sat down and looked at their burning city.

"If we wait for the fire to burn out maybe we could…" Nakim started, but, he trailed off into silence and simply bowed and shook his head.

"We can't just wait here." Simon said, "We need to-." Before he could finish, a hollow grabbed the general and sunk its teeth into Simon's neck.

The knight thrashed and more hollows emerged. There were hundreds of them. Marching through the fallen kingdom of Balder. They jumped several knights and bit them to death as they screamed in agony. The hollow bandit walked forward. He had a scepter and was casting a necromancy spell, bringing the dead back to life.

Rendal curses. "Fall back now!" he ordered his knights back.

They fled through the city, passing the burning houses and rising dead. Some of the knights died on the trip, but, a handful made it out safely. They breathed heavy. There were five knights with Balder side swords and shields. Nakim and two other knights with rapiers and bucklers. Ghar and two of the Berenike knights, one wielded a great sword.

Then there was Rendal, his cape was gone and he only had a heavy crossbow. They stood on the hill overlooking the burning, undead filled, kingdom of Balder and watched the city burn. It was a gloomy night and the men felt nothing but pain and sadness.

Balder was overrun, and would never heal. Their kingdom was gone.

They couldn't stay on the hill forever. There were only a few of them left and Rendal, their new king, called them together.

"Our city had fallen." He said gloomily. "We are the only ones left of the mighty kingdom. But, not all hope is lost for the kingdom." Rendal pulled out the brand of the undead.

Some of the knights gasped.

"Now, listen to me before you dismiss this plan. If we become undead and journey to Anor Londo in Lordran, and meet the gods face to face, and beg them for help, they might just help."

"I'm not forcing you, I would never do something like that, but, we should try to help our kingdom in anyway we can. I would also appreciate your help as well, Ghar."

"We will help you my friend." Ghar responded without hesitation.

How quickly he offered his help startled Rendal, but, the king smiled and nodded, thanking his friend.

"We have nothing left." Nakim began. "Why wouldn't we do what we can for our city?"

The other knights cheered.

Rendal smiled, "Thank you." He said, and his followers bowed.

One by one the knights were branded. The orange circle would kill them, then they would return as an undead. Rendal branded himself and laid in the grass. The brand hurt and made his body burn, but, he did not yell, or scream and held his place. Then his body went numb and his eyes close. Rendal died.

The knights returned to life within minutes. They felt strange, empty, and had a somewhat odd feeling telling them to go a certain direction. It took Rendal a few minutes to realize that he was no longer hungry, or thirsty, or tired. They just, didn't need food or water or rest.

It was an odd feeling and Rendal started to regret the decision. But, after he looked back at the broken kingdom of Balder, he felt like moving on.

"Are you ready men?" Rendal asked the knight.

"Yes my lord." They bowed.

"Do not pack food, or water, we will not need it. And, don't bother with sleeping mats. We will march tirelessly to Lordran. We need to arrive as quickly as possible."

The knights cheered and started off.

Rendal was the last to leave. He looked back, one last, time at the burning city. He smiled at the good memories he had in the city. The memories of his father, mother, and friends. He was sad to leave the city, but, was eager to travel to Lordran to meet with the gods so they could save their kingdom.

Then the king grabbed his crossbow and followed his group in the direction of the land of ancient lords.


End file.
